


Mermaids in Massachusetts

by awfuldaycupcake



Series: Merpeople are ruining Michael's life. [2]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band), All Time Low, CollisCool, Halsey (Musician), Hey Violet (Band), Little Sea (Band), troye sivan - Fandom
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2016-01-26
Packaged: 2018-04-25 02:12:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 26,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4942729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awfuldaycupcake/pseuds/awfuldaycupcake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The bang. The sound. The snap. With that, mixed with the looks on his companions faces, it wasn't hard for Michael to tell that whatever was happening was bad. Very bad. Dust skittered from the floor as the gravity shifted, and Michael reached his hand out, reaching for Ashton. Whatever was happening, whatever was going on- it wasn't good.</p><p>The chemical balance of their planet has been compromised, spiraling the societies of the North and the South into utter chaos. But hey- mermaids, am I right?</p><p>Part of the NaNoWriMo comipition 2015 - to be written/edited soon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Argument

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Just a little note- I strongly suggest that you read the prequel to this if you haven't already. This story's going to be a load of garbage without it. I'm writing this as part of the NaNoWriMo competition, and I will almost definitely be done by the end of November 2015. Thanks for reading, and I hope you love it! 
> 
> ~Molly

_“Ashton. Where is he?” With that, Ashton’s eyes slid open. He looked directly at Michael. Michael could tell that his eyes were glassy and swollen- he must have been crying. The tears, though, were carried away by the ocean._

_“Michael,” Ashton said, slow and careful with his words, “Calum’s gone.”_

The words hit Michael like a freight train. “Gone?” he asked, his voice cracking at the end. “Gone?” He’d only known Calum for the time he’d been here, and he didn’t even particularly like the guy at first… but Calum had grown to be one of his best friends, ever, and the thought of him being _gone_ made him sick to his stomach.  
“Yeah,” Ashton murmured, looking at the ground beneath their feet. Silence filled the room, and Michael took a deep breath.

“Did… did you find his body?” Michael whispered, almost too scared to say it. “If you found his body, I want to have a proper service. He deserves it, more than that. He deserves to be living. He deserves… I dunno, happiness and maybe a puppy...” He closed his eyes, wincing at the thought. “The little fucker never even got to see a puppy.”

Ashton looked up at Michael, his eyes scanning over his crying form. “His body? Michael, he’s missing, not dead.” For the second time that day, Michael was blown away by the meaning of a sentence.

“He’s... alive? Bloody hell, you could have just told me he was missing,” Michael said, smoothing a hand down his face. It was alright. Calum was alive. Captured, maybe injured, maybe beaten, but alive. But then again, maybe he was molested, maybe he was tortured, maybe he was… killed. “Oh my god, where is he?” Michael said, his face paling once again.  
“Well you see, Michael,” Ashton said, his voice irritated, “that is sort of the _point_ of the phrase ‘missing.’ I do not _know_ where he is.”

“Yeah, I kinda got that, thanks.” Michael said, smiling tightly. “Believe it or not, I understand English.”  
“This is hardly a time for sarcasm, Michael!” Ashton shouted. Michael’s eyes narrowed.  
“Has it even occurred to you to get up, go look for him? He was willing to risk his life for you ungrateful bastards, and you’re sitting on your ass, waiting for him to, like, magically show up. What the actual fuck.”

“Guys?” Luke croaked, but it went unheard.

“Is it not? Because every time Calum has left, he has always come back! That is what he _does_.”  
“Ashton, this is serious. He was _kidnapped_ , practically, and we need to save him, god forbid what might happen if we don’t.”  
“But Michael, do you not see? He can take care of himself. He is not a kid, he is a grown up man with responsibilities and an understanding of the world we live in. He can fend for himself, he does not need us spoon feeding him.

“Spoon feeding him? Ha,” Michael said, his tone bitter, “Trying to save someone’s life, selflessly risking yourself and trying to better things is now being called spoon feeding? Wow. Never heard that one before.”  
“You sound like Louis.”  
“You sound like Zayn.”  
“I’ll have you know that Calum is strong-”  
“Strong? But invincible? I-”  
“Not invincible, brave! Able!”  
“No one said he wasn’t brave.”  
“He’s stronger than ten of you-”  
“I’ll have you know that-”

The two mermen continued to talk over each other, Michael’s face growing hot with anger. “At least I didn’t leave him!” Ashton shouted, and Michael took a deep breath, ready to reply.

With that, a thunderous boom shook the very foundation of the Teach’s building. The force of it all caused Michael to fall back, landing roughly on his tail. He saw as Ashton stumbled, leaning against the wall behind them. Light shone from every angle, and Michael had to shut his eyes it was so bright. Michael pulled what would be his knees to his chest, sliding his hands over his ears. The noise was deafening. The light was blinding. Michael felt helpless.

The bang. The sound. The snap. With that, mixed with the looks on his companions faces, it wasn't hard for Michael to tell that whatever was happening was bad. Very bad. Dust skittered from the floor as the gravity shifted, and Michael reached his hand out, reaching for Ashton. Whatever was happening, whatever was going on- it wasn't good.

A hand gripped his arm, and he knew it had to be Ashton’s. Michael took a deep breath, and it all stopped. Just like that, it all stopped.

It was very sudden, without a decrescendo of any sort. Michael’s eyes snapped open, and he looked around the room. Luke was the only one not covering his ears.  
“Does that happen often?” Michael asked, but judging by the look on Ashton’s face, he already knew the answer.  
“Never,” Ashton said, pulling himself off the ground.  
“We have to find out what’s going on,” Michael said, making for the door.  
“What? Michael, we have about 400 different problems going on right now, we cannot waste time,” Ashton said. Michael turned around, glancing at the boy. This was not wasting time. This was changing it.

“Ashton, just hear me out. I come from a place where everyone has access to everything. Well, mostly, anyways. We know things, like how shit works and where to go and stuff. I mean, I’m garbage at speeches, but what I’m trying to say is that I know how this will end if we don’t follow that light, not to mention if we don’t follow Calum. He’s out there, somewhere, probably scared out of his mind. If I’ve ever read a fairy tale- and I have, plenty- I know that there’s a reason the knight tries to save the princess; she doesn’t like it where she is. We have to be the knights, Ashton. We have to fight the dragon, metaphorically, and save our prince. And in order to do that… you have to trust me. Be my knight in shining armor, Ash. Trust me. We’ll take down whatever stands in our way.”

Michael stared at Ashton, hoping his impromptu speech helped out in some way. Ashton just stared back. An awkward silence followed, and Michael bit his lip, worried that he might have messed up.

“Michael, what’s a knight?”

Michael sighed. This was going to be harder than he thought.


	2. The Knowledge

“So you are saying that Calum is scared and doesn’t know how to save himself?” Ashton asked for the billionth time. Michael rolled his eyes.  
“Ash, what I’m saying is that everyone could use some help, whether they’d like to admit it or not.”  
“Yeah, and I’m sure Calum could use some help, mate,” Ashton said, “but in case you forgot, Luke’s in a little more imminent danger.”

Michael looked over at Calum, realization striking. He _had_ forgotten about Luke... Maybe if Luke only talked more, this wouldn’t be a problem.

“Is he mute?” Michael asked, and then flinched at how forward that sounded. _Could’ve at least covered it up better_ , he thought, pulling a hand through his hair.  
“Mute? Michael, I thought you knew. He is deaf.”

Michael slowly looked over towards Ashton, raising his eyebrows. “Deaf.”  
“Mmhmm.”  
“And you didn’t tell me this until now.”  
“No.”  
“Fat lot of good you people are,” Michael sighed, squeezing his eyes shut.

“He is really good at reading lips, though.”  
“Of course he is,” Michael said, sitting back down next to Luke. “Anyways. Task at hand. I’m assuming you guys don’t exactly keep neosporin down here, do you?”  
“What the hell is neosporin?” Ashton said.  
“Figures. What do you guys usually do when someone gets hurt this bad? Like, is there underwater band-aids or something? I don’t know how that would work.”  
“Well, when someone’s hurt this bad, the Teach usually just leaves them for dead,” Ashton said.

Michael fought the urge to roll his eyes again. This community was _really_ fucked up. “I mean, sharks usually come if the person’s out too long.”  
“Sharks? I completely forgot about sharks,” Michael said. “Goddamn. Well, in that case, we should probably get moving. No point in waiting to be a giant shark buffet,” Michael said, lacing his arms behind Luke’s shoulders. Luke whined in protest, and Michael just shook his head.

“I’ll take his tail,” Ashton said, grabbing Luke by his blue green tail. As soon as Ashton’s hands touched Luke’s fin, his skin flashed between opaque and translucent. Michael stumbled back for a second, and Ashton chuckled.  
“Sorry, that happens a lot,” Luke mumbled, and Michael nodded. He wasn’t quite sure how to talk to a deaf person, and was well aware of the fact that he was making a fool of himself.

“Do not treat me any different than you did yesterday, Mike,” Luke said, as if reading his thoughts.  
“You’re coated in blood and just saved my life. I’ll treat you different if I damned want to,” Michael said, over annunciating every word. Luke smiled.

“Okay, we pick him up in three… two… one,” Ashton said, and Michael helped to pick Luke off the ground. Luke groaned in pain, and Michael flinched.  
“Sorry…” Michael said, and Luke squeezed his eyes shut.

“Where exactly are we going, again?” Michael said.  
“Wherever you think Calum might be,” Ashton said.  
“You mean you’re going to trust me?” Michael said, hope spilling over into his tone.  
“Of course. A knight has to trust his partner, does he not?” Ashton said, and Michael was practically beaming.  
“You are correct, sir Ashton.”  
“Why thank you, sir Michael.”

A growling sound was heard from outside, and Michael’s eyes met Ashton’s immediately. “We need to run.”

They blundered down the staircase, holding Luke’s crippled form the whole way. “Isn’t it bad to go outside? We could sorta die,” Michael called as they kept moving, stopping for nothing.  
“We could sorta die in here, too, keep going!” Ashton called, and they pushed the door out of the way, swimming as fast as they could into the ocean.

After what felt like miles, they had ducked under a particularly large rock, Luke laying down behind Michael and Ashton. He was still bleeding, but it had died down significantly. The sun was setting, and Ashton was left as the lookout. “You know, I wouldn’t mind staying up. I probably wouldn’t last the night anyways,” Michael said, sitting shoulder to shoulder with Ashton. Ashton shrugged, and Michael felt his arm bounce.

“Everyone says that. Go to sleep, Michael. If you really want to find Calum so badly, it can wait until morning,” Ashton said. Michael smiled, resting his head on Ashton's shoulder. He felt Ashton tense, but only for a second.  
“You know, I never really understood the whole Teach thing, but I think I get it now,” Michael said with a yawn. “We’re like a band of brothers. We accent each other, even when no one else can. It’s a cool idea,” Michael said. “And not to mention the whole loyalty thing.”

With that, Michael felt Ashton stiff again. He took his head off his shoulder, looking at him. His face had grown stoic and taut. “You okay there, Ash?” Michael asked, and Ashton said nothing. Michael sighed, looking from Ashton to Luke, asleep on the ocean floor. Between the two of them, he didn’t think much talking would be done that night.

There wasn’t. Michael himself fell asleep only minutes afterwards, presumably leaving Ashton awake all night. When he woke, come morning, both Ashton and Luke were up. This Michael expected; the silence, however, came as a surprise. Ashton sat in the same position he was the night prior, back against the rock and face stone cold. Luke had sat up from his previous lying position, looking out into the open water. “Morning, guys,” Michael said, pulling himself off the ground. Neither man said anything. “Where do you think we’re going today?” Silence.

Luke stood, and began walking somewhere. “Luke? Where are you going?” Michael called, following the boy. “Ashton, come on! We can’t just leave him.” Ashton stood after a moment, then began to swim alongside them. “Why aren’t you guys talking? Did I do something wrong?” Michael asked, looking from Luke to Ashton. Luke shrugged, but Ashton seemed… off.

“Ash, are you okay?”  
“I was just thinking,” Ashton said, staring off.  
“Are you okay? I know things are a little rough right now, but-”  
“Oh trust me, things have been worse,” Ashton said.  
“What happened?”  
“You ask a lot of questions.”

They kept going quietly, Luke leading the way. Michael was so glad that Luke seemed to know where he was going; Michael had no idea where Calum might be.

“When I was a young boy, my father-”  
“Took you into the city?” Michael joked, but Ashton sent him a blank stare. “Sorry, continue.”  
“As I was saying. My father was a Leo, a recruiter for our Teach. We were small- it was just Harry, my little brother; Dylan, a Taurus; Andy, a Scorpio; Leighton, an Aquarius; my pa, an Aries; Oliver… uh, he was a Pisces; and then, well, me.”  
“That’s small?”  
“Very. Anyways, my Dad was out trying to recruit one day, and he recruited some guy into our Teach. And as you said, Teaches are supposed to be based on loyalty and trust, right? Well this guy just happened to not care about that. He was a Sagittarius- we had never had one of those, so we were a little desperate. He was big and handsome- if our signs were compatible, I am sure my father would have partnered me with him instantly. But they were not, thank Poseidon. Besides, I had, well, I had _Oliver_. Anyways, one night when we were sleeping, this guy climbed between the rooms and… he started slitting throats. Merpeople were screaming, the Teach was a mess. Only me and the guy made it out alive.”

“I- Ashton, that’s horrible.”  
“Yeah. It’s about time you knew, anyways. The guy’s name was Rian Dawson. I mean, there’s a reason I hate Jack Barakat’s Teach so much- he and Alex and Zack, not to mention Rian, have changed my life, probably for the worse. I do not know where I would be if it were not for them. Probably exactly where I started.”  
“I’m so sorry.”  
“Do not apologise, Michael. If it were not for that… I guess I would never have met you. That would literally suck.”  
“Would it now?” Michael said with a smile. He couldn’t believe Ashton had to go through so much. His partner killed, even. Michael knew how that last part felt- it stung like hell.

“Hey, I just hope we can find Calum. We currently have a Teach of three, none of us recruiters. We _aren’t_ looking so hot,” Ashton said. He choked out the word ‘aren’t’, but at least he tried.  
“Yeah. Speaking of finding Calum, Luke! How do you know where you’re going?”  
“He is not looking your way, therefor cannot see you mouth the words,” Ashton said, and Michael nodded. “Besides, I know the answer. Luke and Calum have a Kaitiaki Connection.” Michael paused, raising an eyebrow. He had no idea what that meant.

“It’s like, a saver’s connection. When the two of them met, Calum was fourteen or fifteen. Luke was a year younger. There was some chaos involving an underwater volcano, but long story short, Calum saved Luke’s life. This instilled a Kaitiaki Connection, or a hononga kaitiaki if you want to say it right. It’s Maori.”

“So because Calum saved Luke’s life Luke knows where Calum is?”  
“Yeah. That is why they are so close, honestly. I do not think I have met a pair of non-partnered mermen that love each other, platonically, as much as these two do,” Ashton said.  
“You guys have a lot of weird merman things that I really need to keep up with,” Michael said.  
“Oh, Mikey. You have only just scratched the surface.”


	3. The Hunger

They swam. They swam and they swam and they swam. Michael and Ashton shared a few conversations here and there, but mostly, it was quiet. After a while, nothing but open ocean went by their vision. Nights passed, and the little Teach crawled under any rock or particularly large piece of driftwood they could find. More than one night passed where none of this was found, and they had to take their chances in the open sand.

“Ashton, this seems awfully far. I mean, we know who did it- it was Alex who took him. Zack said he lived near us- they must be somewhere near,” Michael said. This happened to be one of those nights where they weren’t lucky enough to find shelter. The three of them were sprawled out in the sand. Michael had burrowed himself under it, almost like a blanket. The night was dark and cold. He missed home.  
“I know. It does seem as if we have gone very far, but Luke knows what he is doing. Or, his subconcious does, rather. We’ll be there soon.”

Soon seemed to come a lot later than Michael expected.

They were growing hungry. The plants- the kelp, the seaweed, the sea grapes- were few and far between. Michael was the first to complain. They were somewhere in between a reef and the bolder they’d stayed under the previous night. Michael's stomach growled. “There has to be more food out here,” he said, scanning his eyes along the open landscape.  
“Michael, if there was, we would have spotted it by now,” Ashton grumbled, and the group kept walking.

It was a little over a month of barely any food when Michael began to see his rib cage. The pains in his stomach were growing longer and longer, and his attention span was beginning to drift. “You know what I could really use right now? A piece of pizza,” Michael said, sitting down abruptly.  
“What? Michael, we need to keep going,” Ashton said, pressing a hand to Michael’s shoulder.  
“Pizza with pineapple and ham. Hawaiian pizza,” Michael continued. His stomach hurt.  
“Mikey, please. We need to keep going. Find Calum, remember? Knights? Hunger just might be our dragon. We need to beat it. Come on,” Ashton said, kneeling down to Michael’s eye level. Michael barely heard a word.

“Luke, come here,” Ashton said, and Luke knelt down next to Ashton. “Are you seeing what I am seeing?”  
“The symptoms are all present,” Luke said. Michael could feel Luke’s gaze burning into his skin. “He is starving.”

“That is it. We are starting hunting,” Ashton said, standing up with a jolt.  
“We do not have any energy, we will most likely die trying,” Luke said.  
“Then so be it. We will most likely die if we keep eating plants, too. I know it is survival of the fittest down here, but we need to try. Besides, if anyone can do it, it is you, Luke. You are the best hunter I know,” Ashton said. Luke paused for a minute. Michael assumed that he was processing Ashton’s words, taking time to realize what he’d just said.  
“No pressure,” Luke joked, smiling.  
“No pressure,” Ashton said back.

The only problem with hunting was the schedule. Ashton and Luke were day hunters, Cancers, scanning the top of the sea unseen to look for estranged sailors and Teachless mermen. Michael, a Scorpio, was a night hunter, and spent his hunts (or, rather, tried to spend his hunts) searching for other mermen to take out in the dark cover of nighttime. There was no way they could cover ground while hunting like this.

“We could take shifts, go for a day and rest for another,” Ashton said. Michael nodded, taking another bite of the sea grapes they had collected. Luke and Ashton had made Michael their main priority, food wise. Both of them had gone through periods of time being Teachless, and they understood how bad it felt to go hungry for the first time. That’s what they told Michael, anyway.

“I mean, we could, or we could just go at night. It’s not like I can even hunt, anyways,” Michael said. He didn’t even care that he was talking with his mouth was full- it tasted that good.  
“Michael, you will get the hang of it, especially when you get practice. You never know, you could have one really good night and come back with two,” Ashton said.  
“I… Yeah, okay. No point arguing how invalid and immoral that is, I guess,” Michael said, sliding his eyes shut.

“Michael, you are literally starving. Stop arguing for one minute and just try to survive, okay? Our culture is a little different than yours, I get it. But I do not get all up on you for why you ignore etiquette or how strange contractions are,” Ashton said. Michael sent him a look that clearly meant _‘that’s a lie,’_ and a blush crept onto Ashton’s cheeks.  
“Okay, so maybe I bugged you a little about contractions. No big deal.”  
“A little. Ha,” Michael said sarcastically.  
“Okay, maybe a lot. Shut up, that isn’t the point,” Ashton said, and his face flushed even further.  
“You literally just used a contraction there,” Michael said, a smile breaking out onto his face.  
“No I didn’t! I- oh my god, shut up,” Ashton said.

It was moments like these that reminded Michael why he even began to like mermen in the first place. For a place so chaotic, no one was nearly as cruel, hateful, or mean to spite others. People here did what they had to- nothing more, nothing less.

Michael was the first to hunt. Both Luke and Ashton were hid away under a rock nearby, and he himself was standing alone, a literal sea of darkness clouding his vision. _Echolocation,_ he thought, remembering what Liam had said all that time ago . _I’ve got this._

He screamed. The noise bounced off the walls, throwing itself back into his form. His eyebrows were knitted together in concentration. All he could make out from the sound was that there was something about twenty feet ahead of him, presumably a wall. He tried again, but to no avail. Michael sighed. _Fuck this,_ he thought, his fists clenching. _I don’t want to shout at walls and eat people, I want to eat, like, KFC or whatever._ He shouted across the sea again, and nothing seemed different. “Yeah, I have no idea how to even begin doing this,” he muttered to himself. “Not in the slightest.”

It was a long night. Needless to say, he didn’t exactly manage to hunt anything. (Or, rather, anyone.)

Then there was the fact that it was strange, for Michael, to try to sleep during the day. It was even stranger to know that his only two friends were somewhere above him, trying to kill people for them to eat. He rolled over in his makeshift bed of sand and driftwood, his mind numb from the hunting of last night. Or, technically, the lack thereof. His lackadaisical efforts mixed with the constant nagging of how _immoral_ the whole thing was nearly guaranteed that he was going to suck. Add that to him not knowing what he's at all, and Michael is fully aware that he’s screwed.

Michael shut his eyes as the sounds of the ocean around him lulled him to sleep.


	4. The Encounter

“Mikey! Wake up!” a voice called in Michael’s ear. He groaned, opening his eyes to Ashton, standing over him. “We caught one!” Michael sat up slowly, taking in his surroundings. The pastel colors of the sunset shone overhead, and nighttime darkness had already began to consume the water around them.  
“You caught one?” Michael asked, unsure if he had heard Ashton correctly.  
“Yeah. Big, meaty fellow. Should last us a few days. Man, how cool is that?” Ashton said, a grin slipping over his face. Michael cringed.

“Oh, come on. Morals are great and all, but you are going to die if you do not eat. Now get up here, Luke is prepping it and it is going to be amazing,” Ashton said, pulling Michael up by the shoulder.  
“Okay, whatever,” Michael said. He wasn’t very fond of this idea. He’s never eaten people before, obviously. Unless you would count when he used to bite his fingernails, he might have accidentally swallowed one of those once...

Michael followed Ashton, keeping an eye out for anything that might be lurking in the night. His paranoia might be considered weird, but after learning all he has about this society, it’s more normal than he might have though. Sooner than he had hoped, Michael found himself, Ashton, and Luke sat in a circle. The sunlight was barely a sliver.  
“This feels oddly satanic,” Michael said, looking from the bloodstains on Luke’s hands to the small, chunky pieces of meat between him and Ashton.  
“Say what you might, if it keeps us alive, it is great,” Luke said, divvying up the chunks.  
“That... also sounds satanic,” Michael said. This whole thing was making him apprehensive.  
“Michael, just try it. It is not as bad as you might think, especially if you don’t focus on it,” Ashton said.

“Whatever. Let’s just get this done with, yeah?” Michael said, picking up a cube of the meat from where Luke had them. He squished it between his fingers for a second, recoiling at the feeling. It was oddly soft, and yet very stiff at the same time. He didn’t like it.  
“I am fairly certain you are supposed to taste it with your mouth,” Ashton joked, and Michael just threw the meat into his mouth. It squished between his teeth, a strange flavor he’d never experienced before. It almost resembled a mix of barbecue sauce and uncooked salmon.

“Yeah, okay. That’s really weird. Really weird,” Michael said, swallowing it as fast as he could. “Definitely doesn't taste like chicken.”  
“What is a chicken?” Ashton asked, popping one of the meat cubes into his mouth.  
“I’m really not in the mood to have this conversation,” Michael said, forcing down another cube. As disgusting and horrifying as it was to eat, his instinct for survival outweighed any virtuous thoughts.

They continued on like that for another hour or so, eating in silence as the sun went down. By the time they were finished with what Luke deemed to be one serving each, it was pitch black night. “Maybe we should sleep tonight, walk in the daylight. I think the stakes of us going out now and living are going to be a little higher tomorrow than now,” Ashton said, laying down in the sand where they sat.  
“Hey man, whatever helps us live until tomorrow,” Michael said, flopping backwards into the sand. “I literally just ate human flesh,” Michael added after a moment. He sighed, uncomfortable with the whole thing. “I am officially a cannibal.”  
“Oh stop being so dramatic, you ate like, less than a whole arm. Besides, the people that we killed are also most likely cannibals, so what does it matter?” Ashton said. Michael heard him fall down beside him.  
“Actual cannibal Michael Clifford,” he muttered. “Doesn’t sound as cool as Shia LeBouf.”  
“There is nothing to be ashamed of, Michael. It is a part of our society,” Ashton said. Michael shifted, frowning.

“Can we please talk about anything else?” Michael said.  
“Sure. You’re totally the one that brought it up, though,” Ashton said.  
“Shut up,” Michael said, running his fingers through Ashton’s hair. He felt Ashton relax at the touch.  
“Just get a good night’s sleep. We can talk more in the morning.”  
“G’night, Ash,” Michael said through a yawn.  
“Goodnight, Michael,” Ashton said.

To Michael, the fine details of travelling were a bit of a blur. Some things stood out- Ashton agreeing to go, learning about tons of different strange merman things, the hunger, the cannibalism- but mostly, it all just rushed by. Michael was standing somewhere in the Coral Sea, that part he was sure of. It was nighttime, and Luke and Ashton had left hunting up to him again. He wasn’t quite sure why they were doing this- he understood that he was a terrible hunter. Hell, he wasn’t one hundred percent sure why they were keeping him around at all. In this world, he didn’t seem to possess any desirable qualities. He couldn’t hunt, he couldn’t cook, he wasn’t particularly fast, he wasn’t a recruiter… the list goes on and on.

He was back to screaming at walls again. The sound of his voice echoed off of the walls, but he didn’t know what that meant. He had no idea how to calculate where anything lied between him and the ocean, and he just sort of assumed that he would never run into another merman out here. He always thought that this was pointless to begin with.

Up until now, Michael had never, during a hunt, encountered another merman.

He had shouted at least twenty five times now. He let out another yell, fully expecting the same results. Except… they weren’t the same. There was a difference in the noise. Michael had no idea where that difference lay, but he was sure that it was there. “Hello?” he called, before realizing how stupid that was. _Yes, Michael, because the other guy’s just gonna say hi_ , he thought to himself, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” To Michael’s surprise, a voice called out to him. He sighed. Would he need to fight this guy, or would it be like it was with Zack, where they just chatted? _Although, that guy did just try to kill us_ , Michael thought, realizing the cons of that situation. _Maybe it’s better we just get the fighting thing out of the way. Better than dealing with that later._

“Show yourself!” Michael called into the abyss.  
“It’s too dark, man. Unless you got a light?” the man asked. His voice was young- he sounded no older than ninteen. He almost sounded friendly, but Michael was learning quickly not to trust people down here.  
“No,” Michael said simply.  
“Well okay, then it is going to be a little difficult to show myself.”  
“You’re not gonna hurt me, are you?” Michael asked. The moment it slipped out of his mouth was the moment he regretted it. He sounded weak, pathetic.

“I mean, not unless you try and hurt me,” the voice said.  
“Look, I don’t want to hurt you,” Michael said.  
“Then avoid it, simple as that.”

Michael drew a taut smile. Whoever this guy was, he was way more annoying than anything he’d had to deal with so far. Underwater, at least.

“I could kill you right now,” Michael said. He hoped his false confidence wasn’t too obvious.  
“No, you probably could not,” the voice said. Michael did a double take.  
“What? You cocky bastard, of course I could,” Michael sputtered. “What even makes you say that?”’

“There is only one way you could talk like you do, with such fluid contractions and easy speaking. You are not from around here. I, however, am. I am skilled at what I do- I am a talented hunter. Now, Taurus. You are going to listen to what I have to say, or you are going to get your ass handed to you,” the voice said.  
“Don’t try and push me around, I can stand my own,” Michael said, but inside he was screaming. How was he supposed to beat this guy?  
“Is that so?” the voice asked, and Michael felt a hand push against his right shoulder. He ducked to avoid it, but the man had Michael shoved against the wall, completely at the man’s mercy. “There. That’s better. Now I’m gonna ask you a few questions. Try not to lie, okay? I have very little tolerance for liars.”

Michael looked at the situation he was in. He didn’t have very many options. He could try and run, be caught by this guy and probably die… there was that. Or he could stay here, tell partial truths, and hope that he’d be released. He liked his options with that one better.

“Okay,” Michael said, and the guy pushed him harder against the wall. “Yeah, I said okay.”  
“Good. Now. How many members are in your Teach?” the man asked. Michael took a deep breath. He knew that, with such a small Teach, revealing their numbers could get them killed in an instant. He tried to remember what Ashton said, when Michael first woke up. How many members were in a good Teach?  
“Uh, twenty-eight,” Michael lied. The man’s arm pushed him further against the wall. He could barely breathe.  
“Wrong answer,” the man said. “Teaches are no bigger than twenty-four, you idiot.” Michael cursed himself.

“I don’t like liars. Now you tell me the truth, or I will find each and every one of your friends and _rip_ their vocal chords _straight_ out of their throats, you hear me?”  
“Loud and clear,” Michael stuttered, and the grip released slightly. He took a gulp of water, the gills on his throat expanding. If there was one thing about being a merman he’d never get used to, it was that.  
“How many members are in your Teach?” He clamped his hands around Michael’s neck, and Michael panicked. If only he hadn’t panicked.  
“Three!” Michael cried, and the grip was released. “Me, Luke, and Ashton. Please don’t kill them, please don’t kill me.”

“Three? Wow, that’s desperate,” the man said. “Obviously you are a Taurus, but what are your friends?”  
“I’m a Scorpio outlier, actually,”  
“Ha. Very funny. Scorpios are never outliers.”  
“Surprise, I guess,” Michael said.  
“Anyways. What are the other two members of your Teach?”  
“They’re both Cancers. Again, please don’t kill us. We’re hunting down this group that took Calum, and Luke’s tracing him with some Coyote Connection or something-”  
“It’s a Kaitiaki connection.”  
“Yeah. That. Sorry, I’m new here. But we’ve been travelling for what feels like months and we still haven’t found them.”

“Who took your friend?” the man asked.  
“Um, someone named Alex Gaskarth-”  
“No. No way.”  
“Uh… yes way?”  
“You do speak of Jack Barakat’s Teach, correct?” the voice said. Michael sighed. It seemed like everyone knew this Teach.  
“Yeah. They took him and ran, I don’t know why.”

“Legend has it that no one in that Teach can find a partner. It would make sense, being as vile as they are.”  
“So you hate them, too?” Michael said.  
“They killed my father. I am not just going to love them,” the voice said.  
“Join our Teach,” Michael said. It was sudden- he had no idea where it had come from. He thought about it for a second. It would probably keep them alive… he was going to stick with it. “We have a common rival. ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend,’” Michael said. The man paused, as if lost in thought.  
“That is very wise of you to say.”  
“Thanks, I stole it from some ancient proverb or something.”

“I shall join you,” the man said. Michael was taken aback. There was no way he thought that was going to work.

“I- great! Yeah, I’m sure Ashton will love that…” Michael said.

 

Ashton did not love that.

 

“What do you mean you just let some guy into our Teach!” Ashton shouted, out of earshot of the man. He and Luke were somewhere else, probably trying to entertain each other.  
“I dunno, I panicked and said something so he wouldn’t kill me. If you guys really hate him that much, why don’t you just kill him yourself?” Michael said.

Ashton looked appalled at that. “What. What did I say,” Michael said more so than asked.  
“Killing people in your Teach is horrible, Michael. The Teach has an unspoken bond, one that cannot be broken. A Teach must love each other as either brothers or partners, accepting one another for who they are. This can only be suspended as a member of a Teach leaves to join a new one.”  
“So we can’t get rid of him?” Michael asked.  
“Not really,” Ashton said, sighing. “At least he is a Scorpio. A Teach of two and two is often very strong, compared to any other odd combination.”  
“Mmhmm,” Michael said, as if he understood.

Ashton took a step closer to Michael, the look on his face changing to a much more sympathetic, kind stare. “Anyways. Are you alright? Did he hurt you?”  
“Ash, I’m fine. I’m a little more worried about accidentally admitting a possible serial killer into our home.”  
“I know, but I care about you. I want to make sure that you are alright,” Ashton said, sending Michael a small smile, which Michael returned.  
“Thanks.”  
“Of course.”

Their moment was broken as a scream filled the air.


	5. The Addition

Daylight prickled at the corners of the sky as the scream was heard. It seemed very out of place for whatever was going on.

“What the hell?” Ashton shouted, and ran after the noise. Michael was quick to follow. They turned the corner, and saw… something they weren’t expecting. Or, something Michael wasn’t expecting, at least. The man was standing hunched over, holding his hands on something that wasn’t there.  
“What the hell?” Michael repeated.

“It is Luke,” Ashton said, heaving a sigh.  
“But, I thought it was like, illegal for inner Teach violence or something.”  
“Not illegal, just immoral,” Ashton muttered.  
“Like you guys know anything about immoral,” Michael said, rolling his eyes.

“Not the time, Mikey,” Ashton said, rushing forward to break up the fight. Luke’s skin flashed between clear and visible, and finally set itself normally. Ashton wrenched him off of the man, who stood up, looking a little offended. “I am so sorry,” Ashton said. The man sighed, pulling a tight smile.  
“It is… fine. It is fine,” the man said.

“He cannot be trusted,” Luke said. “He cannot be trusted!”  
“Okay, okay. Calm down, Luke,” Ashton muttered, and the maddened look in Luke’s eyes faded out. “You are okay. It will be okay.”

Ashton had explained this to Michael earlier. Cancers, Ashton and Luke included, tended to have outbursts of anger towards people outside of their Teach, especially during the day. Since it was technically sunrise then, this made a slight bit of sense to Michael.

“I’m sorry, this is a little ill timed, but I do not believe you have introduced yourself,” Ashton said, and the man smiled.  
“Yes, my apologies. My name is Casey, Casey Moreta,” the man said. “And you are?”

“I am Ashton Irwin. This here is Luke Hemmings, and you seem to have met Michael,” Ashton said. Michael nodded. He wasn’t quite sure if he’d ever heard their last names before.  
“Pleasure to meet you all. Sorry if Michael and I got off on the wrong foot- hunts usually do go like that,” the man, Casey, said.  
“It’s fine,” Michael felt himself saying, for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.  
“Great. So, I hear you are looking for Jack Barakat’s Teach,” Casey said.  
“Uh, yeah. They have kidnapped one of our close friends-” Ashton started, but was cut off.  
“I know, Michael told me. I really am sorry he is missing.”

“He is not missing. I know where he is,” Luke said, and Michael turned his head to look at him. It was still odd hearing Luke speak.  
“Yes, Michael told me about your Kaitiaki Connection,” Casey said.  
“You told him about it?” Luke said, turning to Michael. “That is supposed to be private! We are not to speak of it, especially to strangers!”

Michael cocked his head. “Is this another thing you’re not supposed to talk about?” he whispered to Ashton.  
“It’s like talking about your sex life in public. You are not supposed to mention it,” Ashton whispered back.

“I’m sorry, Luke, I didn’t know.”  
“Yeah. It is okay, Michael. It is _fine_.” In that very moment, Michael knew exactly how Luke was feeling.

“We should probably get hunting,” Ashton said, nodding towards Luke. “It is morning, afterall. Michael, you and Casey get some rest. I expect to see you well and able tomorrow night. And Mikey?” Ashton added.  
“Yeah?”  
“Keep an eye on Casey for me. I do not trust him.”

Michael fell asleep before his head hit the ground.

Being underwater, Michael assumed dreaming would’ve stopped. He wasn’t quite sure why- maybe it was because of how different everything was above water. But the dreaming didn’t stop. If anything, it only became more vivid. That night, as Michael lied haphazardly on the ocean floor, Casey not twenty feet away, he had a dream.

Ashton was there. In all six feet of glory, Ashton stood next to Michael. To Michael, the most important part was that he was _standing_. They were above, on land, _standing_. And they were holding hands. Thousands of people stood in front of them, cheering their names and holding posters. Michael and Ashton were on stage. Michael looked down, and saw a guitar draped around his chest. He noticed drumsticks in Ashton’s left hand. Luke and Calum were nearby, the two of them laughing about something.

They all stood. They all breathed air. They all walked. They were _human_. To Michael, that is all he wanted.

Unfortunately, that could never happen. “Morning, moonshine,” Ashton muttered in Michael’s ear, and Michael groaned, turning to face the other merman. “Or, goodnight, I suppose. Did you sleep well?”  
“As well as I can on the floor of the ocean,” Michael said. He elected not to tell Ashton about the dream- he thought it might sound weird, and didn’t want Ashton to psychoanalyze it, like Michael was sure he would.  
“Fair enough. We have got another day of travelling ahead of us, so it is probably best that you get up,” Ashton said. Michael nodded, pulling himself off the ground.  
“Where we headed?” Michael said.  
“Oh, you know. Wherever Luke is headed,” Ashton said, running a hand down his face.

“Bad hunt?” Michael said, reading Ashton’s mood.  
“Is it that obvious? We found nothing. No seafood, no veggies, no nothing.”  
“I’m sure you’ll do better next time,” Michael said, patting Ashton’s shoulder.  
“Thanks,” Ashton said, walking over towards Casey’s sleeping figure. “I probably should wake him up.”  
“I mean, probably,” Michael said, shrugging. “Why not.”

Ashton lent down, nudging Casey’s side. “Wake up.” Casey sat up quickly, eyes widening. “You’re not dead, nor dreaming. I’ll save you the questions. Now come on, we have a prince to save.”  
“Yeah,” Casey muttered, pulling himself off the ground. “Are we travelling at night?”  
“Uh-huh. It is a little more dangerous, but we need to make up for lost time,” Ashton said.  
“Guys! Are you coming or not?” Luke called, and Ashton smiled.  
“Let us go then?” Ashton said, and Michael and Casey followed him to Luke.


	6. The Bet

Michael was starting to worry if they would find Calum at all. They kept travelling, going from place to seemingly unrelated place, finding nothing new. All they had to rely on now was Luke, who still occasionally messed up. He was only human. (Well, not really, but still.) Everywhere they went, it all had a sense of Déjà vu.

“I miss my mom,” he muttered one day, when he, Luke, Casey, and Ashton were seemingly in the middle of nowhere.  
“Yeah?” Ashton said, sounding slightly out of breath.  
“Yeah,” Michael said.  
“What was she like? Your mom, I mean,” Casey asked. Michael quirked an eyebrow. He was expecting that question from Luke maybe, but not Casey. He hadn’t seemed all that interested in their personal lives prior to this.

“She’s very kind, sweet. She cares about me so much. I haven’t spoken to her in such a long time… she probably thinks I’m dead,” Michael said, the weight of his own words weighing down on him.  
“Aw, Michael,” Ashton said, sending him a look of sympathy. Michael felt a pang in his gut at knowing what Ashton had been through, and that he was even complaining at all.  
“I have never met a woman before,” Casey said, very matter-of-factly.  
“I have,” said Luke, and all eyes turned to him.  
“You have?” Ashton asked, tilting his head. “When?”

“I was younger, nine or ten. My dads were out hunting and my brothers and I climbed to see... _it_. To see the above,” Luke said. “We did not really think about it. It was more of something to do to ease away the boredom, no biggie. But we messed up. A group of women, maybe twenty-two or twenty-three spotted us. My brother Jack pulled me under, and Ben found his way down on his own. It was crazy. That was only a day or two before the virus hit,” Luke said, a small smile on his face. “But hey, I survived te whiu piwa, so there is something in that.”

“You survived it?” Casey asked. He seemed so startled by this revelation.  
“Barely. Lost hearing in both ears,” Luke said. “I mean, can read lips pretty well, but it is really cool to find someone who can actually speak sign language.”  
“I have never met someone who survived it before… that is so impressive,” Casey said.  
“Wait. What’s te whiu piwa?” Michael said. He was beyond confused.  
“I think you call it the Barbaric Plague?” Ashton said.  
“That’s, no. That’s definitely not a thing,” Michael said.  
“Okay, not Barbaric, but it sounds like it. Uh, Baboonic? Bootanic?”  
“Bubonic? The Bubonic Plague?” Michael said.  
“Yeah! That’s it, yeah,” Ashton said.

“Do you guys have medicine down here?” Michael said.  
“No, not really,” said Casey.  
“Right. So, Luke, how the hell does one survive the literal Black Plague without vaccines? That doesn’t make any sense.”

Luke paused before his answer. “I think, from Tauruses I know, that we have a better immune system than you do. Although, I honestly have no idea what you said after Plague, sorry.”  
“Without vacc- nevermind. It doesn’t matter,” Michael said, realizing that Luke can’t really understand that word, anyways.  
“Right. Anyways. I think it is time to take a rest. What say you, boys?” Ashton said, and they all started at him.  
“We say you never say that again,” Michael joked.  
“Ha ha. Funny. But for real, I’m ready to call it a night when you are.”

Days passed. Nothing changed. Michael felt an odd sadness ebbing away at his joy. He made no note of it.

“We should probably do another night of hunting,” Ashton said. Michael could tell he was sizing them up- and he had reason to. They were growing more weak, more hungry, and much more tired by the day.  
“Mmm,” Michael agreed, supplying a nod. Ashton smiled.  
“Casey, you know how to hunt, right?” Ashton said. Casey shot him an offended look.

“Do _I_ know how to hunt? Do you even know how to hunt? Ashton, I have been practically hunting since I was out of the womb. Both my fathers were Scorpios, and fate just had it that I was, too. I have grown into this,” Casey said, pushing his chest out in pride.  
“Okay, hot shot. If you are so talented,” Ashton said, gesturing to the open sea, “prove it.”  
“Okay. I will,” Casey said. “You guys try and attack me while my eyes are closed. If you can pin me down for ten seconds, you win. If I can last twenty minutes without you pinning me down, I win. Sounds like a deal?”  
“What are the steaks? There is no point in betting without steaks,” Ashton said, a smirk on his face. Ashton thought he was going to win, Michael was sure of it. Michael, after seeing Casey nearly kill him, wasn’t so sure.

“If you win, I will prepare the food for a _week_. If I win, you have to take me above,” Casey said.  
“What?” Michael asked.  
“You heard me,” Casey said. “That’s the deal, take it or leave it.”  
“How about a renegotiate. If I win, you have to prepare the food for _two_ weeks. It’s only fair- taking people above is a lot of work,” Ashton said.

“Fine. Deal,” Casey said, sending Ashton a nod.  
“Aren’t you guys gonna shake on it?” Michael asked, and Casey sent him an odd look. “Okay, nevermind,” Michael murmured.  
“So, on the count of three. One… two…” Casey shut his eyes. “Three!”

And then he released a noise unlike one Michael has ever heard.

It almost sounded like a bird chirping, but it also sounded like someone was choking. Casey was making clicking sounds at them. Michael just stared.  
“We’re supposed to be attacking him,” Ashton whispered, and Michael nodded.  
“Oh. Right.” They moved very differently, Ashton and Michael- Michael had a very staccato, jagged fighting style, whereas Ashton was smooth and subtle. His invisibility did not have an effect on Casey, who had his eyes closed, and yet Ashton blended in anyways. Luke watched them all from the background.

Michael took a deep breath. He stepped back, before lunging himself at Casey, hoping to catch him off guard. Casey just glided to the side, leaving Michael to fall in the dirt. Michael got up, brushing sand from his hair. _Nope,_ Michael thought. _This is definitely going to be difficult._

Ashton was around here, somewhere. Michael had no clue where. An idea came to him, then. He picked up a stick from nearby, a small smile glistening over his face. He thought of what Calum had taught him, that day before his first hunt. _Lunge,_ he thought, swinging the stick in Casey’s direction. If he could distract Casey, maybe he could hold him down enough…

Casey caught the makeshift fencing sword easily, tossing it away, Michael along with it. “Damn,” he muttered, looking around for something more useful. If only he still had that trident-

“And time!” Luke called, to which Casey opened his eyes, smiling.  
“How the hell…” Ashton muttered, his visibility returning.  
“Now _that_ is how you use echolocation,” Casey said. Michael figured Casey would want to show off more, maybe rub it in their faces some, but that was all he said. Well, that and this: “Guess what we are doing tomorrow? We are going above!”

True to his word, Ashton woke them the following morning with the prospects of viewing the world above water. Casey was practically bouncing off the walls with enjoyment, an ear-splitting grin taking up the majority of his face.  
“Alright. Just a few things before we go,” Ashton said, looking from merman to merman. “We cannot last over twenty minutes on shore before the oxygen levels begin to decrease our brain waves and we, you know, die. I say we try to avoid that. Also try your very best not to be spotted- people are our friends until they tell everyone about us and try to get us killed. Finally, make sure to stick with the group. I do not want to have a search party organized to find you all. Alright. Are you guys ready?” Ashton finished, and Michael couldn’t help himself but to smile.

“Alright then. Here goes nothing,” Ashton said, swimming towards the surface of the waves.

 

The usual bright blue of the sky was replaced with a dark gray- that was the first thing Michael saw. Raindrops fell from the sky, pattering against the ocean surrounding him. _I almost forgot how much I missed that,_ Michael thought. _I almost forgot how much I missed any of this._

“There is a flat boulder over here,” Casey said, calling the group over. Ashton pulled himself on top of it, flopping onto his back. Michael chuckled. He missed this a lot- it almost seemed like coming home after a long vacation, except for the fact that he was forced there. Maybe this is what coming home from prison feels like, Michael thought, pulling himself up next to Ashton.

“So this is what it’s like. The _above_ ,” Ashton said. “It’s beautiful.”  
“Yeah. You should see it when it’s sunny,” Michael said. The air was calm around the two of them. Michael faintly heard Casey and Luke talking about something, but it was easy to tune out.  
“I would like that,” Ashton said. Michael laid down, looking up at the sky. Rain drops pelted his face, and he shut his eyes.  
“Me, too. Although, there was something I always liked about the rain. Rain is peaceful, cleansing, calming,” Michael said.  
“I think I get that. I feel cleaner than I have in months,” Ashton said.

“Ha, yeah. That’s why showers were invented,” Michael said. He rested his head carefully against Ashton’s shoulder.  
“When I was little, I always wanted to live on land,” Ashton said, moving one of his hands to Michael’s hair. “I always thought I could do so much more up here, escape reality.”  
“Life is pretty fucked up when mermen are reality,” Michael said, and Ashton laughed.

A silence filled the air. It was quiet, but it wasn’t threatening. It felt good.

“Michael,” Ashton said, opening his eyes.  
“Yeah?” Michael asked, doing the same. He stared into Ashton’s hazel eyes, overtaken by their color.  
“Can I… Can I kiss you?” Ashton asked, and Michael took a deep breath.  
“I… yeah,” Michael stuttered out.

Ashton’s lips pressed gently against Michael’s, the rain running down their faces.

The two of them still lay sprawled across a bolder, somewhere in the midst of the Pacific ocean. To Michael, nothing felt more romantic.


	7. The System

“You guys, I really hate to break this up, but Luke says we need to leave, or we will probably die,” Casey said, and Michael sighed, sliding off the bolder with a splash. “I know, I know, but do not shoot the messenger, thanks,” Casey said, plunging underwater himself.

The dark blue of the ocean surrounded them, and Michael drew a sigh. While it was nice to get a break, go above, he wanted to stick around. It was his home, in a way, and he wished he could spend more there.

“Come on, we have to keep looking for Calum. He could still be hurt; we cannot afford to take any more breaks,” Luke mumbled. Michael nodded. He kinda felt bad for Luke. Speaking was difficult for Michael, but for Luke, it must be hell of a lot more challenging…

“Yeah, sounds good,” Ashton said. “Where to next, Luke?”  
“North,” Luke said, and began swimming.  
“North it is,” Ashton said, shadowing him.

Interesting events were hard to find along the journey. Most of Michael’s time was spent in silence, travelling along behind Luke. It was boring. It was saddening. It was driving Michael mad.

“I feel like I’m going insane,” he announced one day, as the group sat in a circle, feasting on another successful hunt.  
“You are not insane, Michael, trust me. I have met plenty of insane mermen in my life, and you are not one of them,” Casey said.  
“Okay, sure, but I feel like it. Like, I’ve never been on an airplane. I’ve never left home, and yet here I am, in the middle of nowhere, without a map, relying on someone’s intuition,” Michael said.  
“It is not just intuition-”  
“I know, Luke. It’s your Kaitiaki Connection, I get it. It’s just, as we travel and stuff, I wish we could do more things. Hell, I wish we would just talk more,” Michael said.  
“We are talking right now, are we not?” Casey asked.  
“I mean, yes, but I wish we’d talk _more_. Like, I don’t care, hold hands and sing Kumbaya. You know?”

The whole group stared at him, alarmed looks on their faces. Michael sighed. “What did I do this time.”  
“Do- do you know what it means to hold hands?” Ashton asked, raising an eyebrow.  
“I honestly have no idea anymore,” Michael said. “I don’t really know much about anything down here, as I’m slowly finding out.” Casey giggled, lowering his gaze. Luke looked away, finding the movement of seafoam in the water far more interesting. “Okay, what’s so funny?” Michael asked.  
“Should I tell him?” Ashton asked Casey and Luke. Luke shrugged, still refusing to look Michael’s way. “Michael,” Ashton said seriously, “holding hands is the way of um, well… reproduction.”

“You’re fucking shitting me,” Michael said, looking from face to face. “You guys fuck by _holding hands_?”

“Well, technically, you do, too,” Ashton said, and Michael groaned, squeezing his eyes shut.  
“And no one ever thought to tell me?”  
“Well, it is not something people really talk about,” Ashton said. Casey giggled again, and Michael shot him a look.

“It is something about spreading eggs via hand contact… I don’t know, no one ever really told me,” Ashton said..  
“So how the hell does safe sex even work?” Michael said. He was mostly surprised, but also a little appalled.  
“What do you mean by ‘safe sex’?” Ashton said. Michael pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing again.

“Never mind. You know what, never mind. I am done with this conversation, like, forever,” Michael said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.  
“I thought you said you wanted to talk more,” Casey said, laughter still lining his voice.  
“Shut up. Just- just, shut up.”

And so they continued, this new knowledge still bombarding Michael’s mind. Above, he thought holding hands with his boyfriend was normal, a kind of tame way of letting people know that you were taken. Here? Holding hands meant something quite different.

“Michael, how do people travel above ground? You said something about an airpane, I think. What… What are those?” Ashton asked. Michael smiled.  
“What are those,” he muttered to himself, thinking back. “Uh, anyways. Airplanes. Well, they’re like, these big, um… I don’t quite know how to explain it,” Michael said, “but they are these big machine things that can fit about a hundred people, I think. Again, I’ve never been in one, so I’m just guessing. But they can let the people travel from place to place very quickly.”

“Would one work underwater?” Ashton asked, and Michael shook his head.  
“No, uh, they fly.”  
“Fly? Like birds do? That does not make any sense, how does that work?” Ashton said.  
“Well, honestly, I have no idea. Something with gasoline and aerodynamics. I never really paid attention in school,” Michael said.

“School?” Ashton asked, and Michael took a deep breath.  
“You’re saying that you don’t have school?”  
“No. Yes. Wait. We uh, no, we don’t have school, yes, I am saying that,” Ashton stuttered out, and Michael smiled.  
“Okay,” Michael said, chuckling as a blush coated Ashton’s cheeks.  
“Alright,” Ashton responded, before another silence fell over them.

It was nighttime again. Ashton and Luke had gone to sleep, and Michael and Casey were in the midst of a hunt, trying to find another merman to eat. Michael still found the idea sickening, and as a result, Casey was usually left to try and hunt for him.

The clicks the man made as he was trying to find things were annoying, but helpful. Casey was currently making that noise, when he stopped, smiling. “Found one,” Casey said, moving to Michael’s right. Michael followed closely, wary of the whole thing.

Michael felt an arm brush against his back, and he straightened up, frigid. “He’s behind us,” he whispered, and Casey turned around, a malevolent grin on his face.  
“Well hello there, Gemini,” Casey said, his tone creepier than Michael had ever heard. He cringed, not wanting to watch this.  
“I swear to god I don’t want to hurt you. I’m just down for the weekend, visiting family, please don’t kill me,” the other merman said, and Michael turned to face him.  
“Holy shit,” Michael murmured, looking at the boy. It was not the first Gemini they had encountered, but he was by far the most recognizable.  
“Oh yeah? Well that’s too bad,” Casey said, faking a small pout.

“Casey, stop,” Michael said, realization dawning on him as he realized who this was. Of course. It just had to be the fucking pop star. “Casey, you need to stop.”  
“Michael, be quiet,” Casey said, not looking away from the man.  
“Casey, you can’t kill him,” Michael said.  
“And why not?” Casey asked, turning to face Michael.  
“He’s famous. Like, really, really famous. If you kill him, the media’s gonna come after us, and we’ll all be dead, lickety split.”  
“Did you just say ‘lickety split’ literally?”  
“Casey, stop! This is _Troye Sivan_ ,” Michael said, looking up at the man.

Troye looked between the two of them, seeming incredibly frightened. “I swear, I don’t mean any harm, it’s just that I wanted to see my cousins, maybe reunite for a little bit. I’d really rather you not kill me.”  
“We aren’t going to,” Michael said. “ _Are_ we, Casey?” He sent a pointed look Casey’s way.  
“No,” Casey muttered, sounding really disappointed.  
“Exactly. Now you can go, Troye. We won’t hurt you.”  
“Thank you so much. I couldn’t thank you enough-”  
“Actually, could you do me a favor and send a letter to someone?” Michael asked suddenly.

“I, um, sure. Who to?”  
“Karen Clifford. Tell her that her son’s okay, will you? I don’t know, it’s stupid, but I miss her a lot,” Michael said.  
“I get it. I understand. Thanks for, you know, not killing me,” Troye said, swimming off.

“Did we really just refuse a meal because you wanted to send a _message_?” Casey said, looking at Michael in disbelief.  
“Yes, and no. The public know him- everyone knows Troye Sivan, he’s incredibly famous guy. Harry bought Wild on vinyl, wouldn’t stop listening to it… but for real. If the guy just disappeared in the middle of the ocean, his body found with a fucking _merman tail_ on the end, how do you think that would end up?” Michael said.  
“We would be discovered,” Casey said, looking very concerned.  
“And if we’re discovered, what will the people do to us?”  
“They’d hunt _us_! It is supposed to be the other way around!” Casey shouted, tugging at his hair.  
“Yeah. Calm down, but… yeah. It wasn’t just for the letter, though that is certainly a bonus,” Michael said.  
“Yeah, okay,” Casey agreed.

They didn’t catch anything that night, but they both agreed not to tell Ashton and Luke about the encounter- it was clear, to Michael at least, that they wouldn’t understand.


	8. The Boundary

The next morning was spent trying to scavenge for bits and pieces of seafood and plants to eat, but that in itself made Michael feel like a better person. Ashton and Luke were up hunting, trying to find another source of food, but the way Ashton had been talking made it seem like there wasn’t a chance of finding any, anyways.

“Casey,” Michael said, arms full of miscellaneous plants, “What was it like growing up down here?”  
“I mean, it was okay. Kind of dangerous, but okay. I was hunting as long as I can remember. My dads were super hard on me, but it made me a great tool for finding food and stuff,” Casey said. He pulled a stalk of seaweed from underneath a small rock, grimacing as small fish swam up around him.  
“What did you guys even do for fun? Like, I can’t imagine childhood without Mr. Rogers and Sesame Street, and you were already out here, searching for food.”  
“Oh, I loved hunting- that was my fun. I was good at it, and that was like, the one thing I could do right. Especially four-ish years ago, when I was like, an early teen. I sucked at everything.”  
“I’m sure you didn’t suck at everything, Case-”  
“No, you don’t understand. I sucked at _everything_. I was not fast, not stealthy, not good at recruiting, but my echolocation? It was flawless. It is flawless. I know I say that coming across as a major asshole, but it is my talent,” Casey said, a nostalgic smile spreading across his face.

“But, you know, after my pa was killed,” Casey continued, “I started getting worse and worse. Like, I had no concentration, my focus drifted, all of that garbage. And I mean, I sort of stopped caring. I stopped caring if some random man would come and kill me in the night. I just sort of lost it.”  
“Casey…” Michael trailed off.  
“Yeah, that was bad. But the rest of my Teach started picking up on the lack of food I was bringing back, and they started getting really pissed off. The Aries who was in charge of my Teach, Paul, decided I was not of any help to them, and kicked me out. My dad tried to protest, of course. He did not want to be without both Pa and me, but Paul threatened to kill us both if I did not leave. He let me go. I was Teachless for a year. It is really a miracle I survived,” Casey said.

Michael felt an overwhelming wave of pity. Casey, this boy who he was originally okay with killing, had been through so much shit. Everyone down here had. Casey lost his father, Luke lost his hearing, and Ashton lost… everything. Sympathy was never Michael’s strongsuit, but he still felt incredibly guilty for all these wretched things that have happened to his friends.

“Casey, it’s no miracle. You are a terrific hunter, and that’s how you made it, no matter what some Aries named Paul might say. You’re fucking amazing, mate. And besides, you have us now. And no matter how shitty we are at hunting, we make up for it with terrible jokes and good company,” Michael said, patting Casey on the shoulder. Casey smiled, looking at the ground.  
“Thanks, Mike.”  
“Anytime.”

Another day of travelling passed, then another. “It’s been a year,” Luke said one day, when they were out in the open.  
“A year?” Casey asked, looking at Luke.  
“Not for you. It has been two months with you,” Luke said.  
“Well yeah, I knew that, but you guys have been travelling for a whole year?”  
“Yes,” Luke said.  
“Damn,” Michael muttered, looking out across the ocean.

“That means it is coming soon,” Ashton said ominously.  
“It? You’re gonna have to be more specific,” Michael said, chuckling.  
“The boundary.”  
“Okay… what?”  
“It is the line separating the Northern and Southern hemispheres,” Luke explained.  
“Wait, you mean the equator, okay,” Michael said, nodding.  
“Call it as you might, it is still going to be a problem,” Ashton said, running a hand through his hair. “A problem I am not looking forward to solving.”

“How is the equator a problem? It’s imaginary,” Michael said, confused.  
“Imaginary? Who ever told you that?” Casey said.  
“Everyone, ever. The equator is just a line used by map makers to cut the world in half.”  
“Well, they must have done a pretty good job at cutting the world in half, then,” Ashton said, and Michael shook his head, still not understanding.

They only swam another mile or so before Michael realized what they were talking about.

“Michael, look here,” Ashton said, leaning down to point at the ground. Michael followed, looking at what Ashton was gesturing to. The plants nearest to him were green, healthy, and thriving. Their stalks were colored correctly, the coral was alive.

There was a distinct line. Everything past it- the coral, the plants, the sand- was a sickening gray color. The water was murky and dark, as if light could not pass through it. Michael could not see more than five feet into the depth. It seemed as if everything abruptly died across the line, like the life was drained out of it.

“That’s really creepy,” Michael said, touching on of the alive plants on his side.  
“Tell me about it,” Ashton said, shaking his head. “I have never been here before, I have only heard of it from stories. Mermen cannot pass the boundary. There is an invisible wall that prevents-”  
“Ashton, I hate to break up your story,” Casey said, sounding nervous, “but Luke just walked over the boundary.”

“He _what_?” Ashton asked, launching up from his crouching position. “That should be impossible.”  
“He just kept walking. Luke!” Casey called, but Michael shot him a look.  
“He can’t hear you, he’s god damn deaf,” Michael said, looking over the dead white plants and dead white coral to see Luke- blue tail, blonde hair, and all- walk into the distance.

“I’m going after him,” Michael said, as Luke faded into the murky water.  
“No you’re not. It’s too dangerous,” Ashton said, grabbing Michael’s arm.  
“Yes, I am. He’s in our Teach, Ashton. We should protect him no matter what,” Michael said, and Ashton released his grip.  
“Michael, listen. If it is safe over there, you just shout, okay? We’ll come rushing,” Ashton said.  
“You break into contractions when you’re nervous,” Michael observed.

Ashton pulled him into a tight hug, and Michael closed his eyes, relaxing. “I’ll come back, Ash. Don’t worry.”

With that, Michael crossed the boundary into the land of dark and dead.


	9. The City

He crossed the boundary. He did it. Michael squeezed his eyes tight, bracing himself for what would most likely be a painful, agonizing death. He fliched.

And yet… he felt nothing.

He looked around the area he was in. It looked just like the other side- same light of day, same colored sand, same colored plants. He examined the line, looking at the coral near it. On the side he was currently standing, the coral looked alive and thriving, but on the other side, it looked dead and dreary. The water was murky.

“What the fuck,” Michael muttered, looking over to see Luke, not twenty feet ahead. Michael swam up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.  
“Hmm?” Luke said, looking over at Michael.  
“Why did you cross?” Michael asked, and Luke stared at him blankly. “Luke, you crossed the boundary,” Michael said, and Luke nodded slowly, seemingly lost in concentration. “Why did you cross?”  
“Calum is over here,” Luke said, and Michael nodded. _Of course,_  Michael thought. _His Kaitiaki connection._

“Right. Well, I’m gonna let the others know-”  
“Holy shit,” Luke interrupted him. Michael was almost certain that was the first time he heard Luke swear.  
“What is it?”  
“I… holy shit. That is a mermaid.”

Michael swiveled his head, looking in the direction where Luke looking. There stood a woman with long black hair, the tips dyed pink. Her tail was the pearly, glistening design of the Virgo, elongated and silky.  
“This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder,” Michael said. She must have heard, because she turned to face them. Her eyebrows shot up when she finally caught sight of Michael and Luke.

“You’re boys,” she said, staring at the two of them. “Holy shit.”  
“That is what I said,” Luke said, staring at her.  
“Oh my god.” the girl said, looking between the two of them. “Uh, I’m Colleen, Coll for short and... hi.”  
“Yeah, hey,” Michael said. “I’m Michael, this is Luke. Um, what do you know about the boundary?” Michael asked, and she shrugged.  
“Can’t cross it. Don’t know why, but I’ve never really wanted to. Why? Also, how are you boys because that makes no sense.”

“We crossed the boundary,” Luke said before Michael could say anything.  
“Um, okay. Sure. Let’s just pretend I believe that. How… exactly did you-”  
“We have no fucking idea,” Michael said, and Luke shrugged. “Wait, I told Ashton I’d look for him, he’s probably losing his shit right now.”  
“I’ll come-” Coll started, but Luke sent her a glare. “Or, you know, not. I’m okay with that.”

Michael slipped back across the boundary, faced immediately with Casey and Ashton. “Oh, thank fuck,” Ashton said, wrapping his arms back around Michael.  
“Told you I’d come back,” Michael said under his breath, and Ashton hugged him tighter.

“What is it like over there?” Casey asked, and Ashton pulled away.  
“It’s, well, almost exactly the same,” Michael said, and Casey smiled.  
“Haha, very funny. What is it really like?” Casey said, and Michael shrugged.  
“The only differences is the mermaids.”

Ashton shot him a disbelieving look, and Michael smiled. He reached for his hand, but stopped himself, remembering what the group had told him about holding hands. “You have to see it to believe it,” Michael said, gesturing to the line. “After you.”

Ashton and Casey crossed over, and Michael followed, met with the same setting as before. “She speaks sign language. She is literally so cool.” Luke said, a grin over his face.  
“Your friend here hates talking. You should learn it, too,” she said, smiling.  
“How? Other than Luke, I have never met anyone that knows sign language,” Casey said, and Coll raised an eyebrow.  
“You mean you don’t have _school_?” Coll said. Luke signed something to her, and she sighed, signing something back. “Anyways,” she said aloud, “I think I know of someone who’d like to see you.” She began swimming, and Luke nodded, following her.  
“Calum is this way anyways,” Luke whispered, and Michael nodded. He understood now why Luke didn’t want anyone to know about his Kaitiaki Connection, especially after the whole event with Casey.

They followed Colleen wherever she was headed. Michael knew it was risky to put so much blind trust in the girl, but she came off as an honest, trustworthy person. They only swam for about a kilo before she stopped, gesturing to a large set of gates, enclosing what appeared to be a city.

“Oh, shit!” Michael exclaimed, looking at the city in awe. Buildings were littered all around, with the occasional skyscraper almost threatening to peak above the ocean waves. Mermaids were everywhere, talking, laughing, and swimming along. To Michael, it was beauty. He hadn’t seen something like this in well over a year, and he wanted nothing more than to live among the mermaids, talk with them, understand their jokes. It was beautiful.

“What? Where are we?” Ashton asked, looking around. “This place hardly looks sufficient for hunting.”  
“Hunting? You mean, you use the siren’s call for hunting? We haven’t done that for _centuries,_ ” Coll said, looking strangely at Ashton. Ashton frowned, shaking his head.  
“I just don’t understand…”  
“You’re using contractions again,” Michael murmured, and Ashton rolled his eyes.  
“Maybe we did not get enough to eat, and are suffering from visions of some sort,” Casey said, and Michael shook his head.  
“And we’re all suffering from the same vision?” Michael said.  
“Perhaps. It seems more logical than the other possibility,” Casey said.

“Yeah, well,” Michael said. He took another look around the city. _Calum would have loved this,_ he thought, looking from the tall buildings to the women inside of the gates. _He would have loved this a lot._

“But c’mon, we need to go inside,” Coll said, smiling at the group. “I just can’t believe I’m meeting actual real life boys. The Travellers always talk about them, but I never have met one in real life.”  
“The Travellers?” Ashton said, and Coll nodded.  
“You know, the people who travel back and forth from land to sea. The Travellers,” Coll said.  
“You mean the Tauruses?” Casey asked. His tone was almost… accusative. Does he think that she was lying to us? Michael thought, narrowing his eyes.  
“No, I’m pretty sure I mean the Travellers,” Coll said cooly.  
“Hmm,” Casey said, looking everywhere but at Coll.  
“Right…” Coll said. “Anyways, the Mayor is definitely going to want to talk to you,” she said, leading Luke, Ashton, Casey, and Michael into the gated city.

The city was even more beautiful on the inside. To Michael, the people here seemed so much more carefree and peaceful than where his Teach was from. He noticed food shops and corner stores along the narrow streets, meaning that there must be some sort of currency here. As the group of them walked along, many girls stopped what they were doing to stare. _This must be as weird for them as it is for us,_ Michael thought, sticking close to his Teach.

In the center of it all there was a giant building, looking incredibly pristine and refined. Coll lead them straight to it, opening the marble door and gesturing into the corridors. “After you,” she said, and Michael ventured in, the rest of his Teach on his heels.

“I am literally freaking out. I have no idea how to act around girls, what the hell do I do,” Ashton muttered to Michael, who chuckled, wrapping an arm around Ashton’s shoulder.  
“Just keep calm and be yourself, that’s what my mum would say. Also, don’t make any stupid jokes, that usually helps,” Michael said, and Ashton nodded, taking a deep breath. Michael smiled, and they continued walking down the long hallway.


	10. The Prophecy

“Last door on the right,” Coll called up, and Michael looked up. Doors seemed to be everywhere in this huge building. _Is this like, their government?_ Michael thought, looking up and down the hallway. The walls were a pearly white, the doors a forest green. _I wonder how they got all this material,_ Michael found himself thinking, _when all the mermen could master up was a table and a few chairs._

Michael approached the door Coll had told him to. The other members of the Teach followed him. “Wait,” Coll said, grabbing Casey by the shoulder. “You should wait out here.” He rose an eyebrow, but stayed behind as the door was shut.

On the other side lay a large, principal-esque wooden desk, accompanied by three wooden chairs in front of it and one plush chair behind. A dark purple carpeting filled the room, and one shelf was on the wall, a thick scroll atop it. A woman sat in the plush chair, writing something down on a sheet of paper. Michael shook his head. If there was one thing that didn’t make sense here, it was that.

“How does paper even work down here? Isn’t that like, weird and kind of impossible?” Michael said, and the woman looked up from her desk.  
“It’s waterproof paper. Specially made using heavy, tightly bound fibers which prevent the paper from saturating and falling apart. Real paper down here would be impossible. Now, before you ask any more questions-”  
“Wait, but Niall’s FR book was made of paper,” Michael said, and the woman glared at him.  
“Michael, that was not made of paper, but human skin,” Luke said, matter-of-factly. Michael’s eyebrows shot up, and Luke shrugged.

“As I was saying before I was so _rudely_ interrupted. Please hold your questions until the end,” the woman said, standing. She walked over to the shelf, picking up the scroll. “And please take a seat.”

Luke sat on the chair farthest to the left. Ashton sat next to him, in the middle, and Michael took a seat on the right.

“You are the second group of mermen to enter these territories, yes?”  
“I don’t really know,” Ashton said, wringing his hands together. He was obviously nervous.  
“I mean, we know Luke followed Calum here, because of their… bond, I guess,” Michael said, trying not to mention the Kaitiaki Connection. “So that means that Jack’s Teach must have been through here.”

“As I figured,” the woman said. She pushed a strand of her short teal hair behind her ear, unravelling the scroll. “I assume you’re looking for a lost soul.”  
“How did you know that?” Ashton asked, without missing a beat.  
“I told you to hold your questions,” the woman said, staring pointedly at Ashton. He seemed to shrink in his seat. “What is his name?”  
“Calum,” Luke said, his eyes meeting hers. “Do you speak sign language?”  
“What is it with you boys and questions?” she said, and Luke sighed. He signed something to her, and she nodded, signing something back. “Okay, so what does this merman look like?” From now on, as she spoke, she signed along with it.

“Dark brown hair, light brown skin, deep brown eyes, um…” Michael trailed off.  
“His tail is that of an Aries, but he is an Aquarius,” Ashton said, and Michael silently thanked him. He wasn’t very good with words, and had no idea how to describe Calum in the least.  
“What does his Zodiac have to do with anything? I am asking his physical descriptors, psychological ones aren’t going to solve any problems here.”  
“His tail. Like, you know, burning red embers, sparkly? The tail of the Aries,” Ashton said.  
“Do mermen use Zodiac signs to determine tails? What?” the woman asked, her voice slipping from poised to confused instantly.

“Yeah, what else would?” Ashton asked, and the woman rolled her eyes.  
“Genetics, maybe? Job code? How is your society even run?”  
“It’s chaos,” Michael said, shrugging. “I’ve only been there for a year, and I can wholeheartedly say that it’s chaos.”  
“So you are a Traveller,” the woman said, staring him up and down. “Your tail is one of a Supplier.”  
“Um, cool,” Michael said, not knowing what else to say.

“Anyways,” the woman said, her voice easing back into her previous professional demeanor. “I suppose you would like to know who I am. I am Ashley Frangipane, but I’d prefer you to call me Halsey. I already know who you are. You three, as well as your friend, are the mermen of legend.”  
“That sounds really cool, but also really dangerous,” Michael said, and Halsey nodded.  
“True. I presume you want to hear the legend, yes?”  
“Um, yeah. I mean,” Ashton said, sitting up in his chair, “yes, yes we would.”

“Great,” Halsey said. “It reads as follows:

“ _To the one with green eyes,_  
_To the one with no hearing,_  
_To the one who tries so hard it’s endearing,_  
_To the one who went missing, and might never survive-_  
_These are the rules you all must abide._

_“To the one with black hair,_  
_To the one with pink scales,_  
_To the one who has killed just to save his own tail,_  
_To the one who is quick and moves without care,_  
_The rules I have- you must also beware.”_

  
“But that’s not describing us,” Michael interjected, and Halsey drew a tight smile.  
“I think it might be Alex’s Teach,” Ashton said. “They must be up here.”  
“May I continue?” Halsey said, and Luke nodded. “Thank you.”

_“The first rule you must_  
_Know to sustain_  
_Is that a child has been born by the name of just Blaine._  
_The first male has been born here in the Mermaid domain,_  
_And must be sheltered from violence and strain.”_

“So we have to save this kid, yeah?” Ashton asked. “Take him back home?” Halsey sent him a look, and he shut up pretty quick.

_“The second rule you learn_  
_If you wish to remain,_  
_Is that power lies not with your fist, but your brain._  
_Nothing beats wisdom, beats wit, beats smart,_  
_Nothing beats wisdom but a merciful heart._

_Soon you should know_  
_The real truth will last._  
_Nothing thus far has mattered._  
_Your Teaches and discrepancies all lie in the past,_  
_It is time to start a new chapter.”_

“What,” Michael said, looking up at Halsey, “Was that?”  
“I told you once. You should understand,” she said. “Our mermaids have studied this parchment for generations, trying to find the origin, the meaning, anything. When the first group passed through, only a week or so ago, we knew that this had to be starting. Your friend, the other Supplier, he does not fit any of the descriptions. The three of you, however, fit almost too perfectly. It all seems a little suspicious, but we cannot waste time looking too far into it. Compared to most of our prophecies, this one is alarmingly simple- find the child, follow your brain and merciful heart, and let go of the past. Simple enough?”

“What if we don’t follow the rules?” Michael asked, and Halsey frowned.  
“The child will die and the boundary will shut forever. Do you remember its opening?”  
“No,” Ashton said, and Halsey cocked an eyebrow.  
“Flash of light, blaring sound, feeling as if gravity was stopping?”  
“Oh,” Ashton said. “That.”

“Well unless you want that again, and for you to be stuck here forever, go find the child.”

“Can’t someone else find the child? Because honestly, I think we just want to get Calum back,” Ashton said, and Luke nodded.  
“That’s the only real reason we’re even here,” Michael said in agreement.  
“Well, either you cross back over to where you came from, your journey for nothing and your friend still missing, or you could find a small child, find your friend, and go home. Which do you think?”

The boys looked between each other. Michael knew the consequences of finding this Blaine kid could be rough- prophecies never really go light on that kind of thing. But he also knew that there was no way he was leaving Calum, especially not after what they had to go through to even get this far.  
“We will go,” Ashton said. “Under one circumstance.”  
“You sound just like the other group,” Halsey sighed, sitting back down in the plush chair, obscuring her yellow tail from view. “Are all men like this? Nevermind, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know,” she said. “What is your condition?”  
“I don’t actually know yet,” Ashton murmured, looking between Michael and Luke.  
“Our condition,” Luke picked up for him, using his speaking voice, “Is that we are given a tour guide. Not just any tour guide- one with a Connection to Alex Gaskarth.”

“That’s a very specific condition,” Halsey said, leaning over her desk to look at Luke. “What do you mean by connection?”  
“A Kaitiaki Connection. You know, when you save someone from death and then they know where you are,” Luke said, and a look of realization dawned on Halsey’s face.  
“We call it guarda del. But why do you want a guide that can do that?”  
“We will be able to tell if Calum and Alex, who is sort of the leader, and be able to find the child. You did tell them where the child will be, yes?” Luke said.  
“The child should be in Massachusetts, USA. It is very far from here. It will take a lot of travelling to-”  
“I understand that, but if I know that if the child falls into this Teach’s arms, it will be obliterated.”

“You keep using the word ‘Teach’ to mean a noun,” Halsey said, and Luke nodded.  
“It is our classification of hunting groups,” Ashton said.  
“I heard that mermen were stuck in the archaic practice of hunting still,” Halsey said. She looked almost disappointed.  
“Yeah, but Teaches are closer to family than to like, a pack,” Michael said. “We aren’t wolves, just letting each other die without caring. We trust each other.”  
“Mike, what’s a wolf?” Ashton asked, leaning over to whisper the question into Michael’s ear.  
“I’ll explain later,” he muttered, and Ashton pulled back.

“Here’s a deal. We’ll get the three of you a place to stay overnight, give you food and water, and find you a guard of some sort- no guarda del guaranteed- come morning,” Halsey said. “It is near impossible to find someone with that deep of a connection to someone who was only here for about a week. We will try, but there is no promises. Does that sound good to you?”  
“Sounds good to me,” Ashton said, looking to Luke. Luke shrugged, looking to Michael.  
“Yeah, feels good,” Michael said, even though it didn’t. Something about this place just seemed… off.


	11. The Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Okay we're reaching a little bit of a smutty chapter. Not, like, 100% or anything, but I just thought I'd tell you. There's no real plot development- if you want to skip, it's okay.

The group walked out the doors. Michael was almost expecting Casey to be all over them, begging them to take him with them, but he seemed very calm when they reentered the hallway. He was talking to a Capricorn, her tail lit up much like Louis and Zayn’s did. She had bright pink/orange hair, a big grin on her face.

“Oh, hey guys! This is Nia. Nia, this is my Teach, Ashton, Michael, and Luke,” Casey said. Michael waved awkwardly, and the girl just kept grinning. “She has been telling me what it is like up here, in the North. They seem so much more classy,” he said with a shrug.  
“Yeah, I can see what you mean by that,” Ashton said. Michael took another glimpse at the room’s decor. He was surprised the water wear was held at such a minimum.  
“Guys?” Coll said, peeking out of a door across the hallway. “Do you know where you are staying?”  
“No, not really,” Ashton said.  
“Okay, cool. I think there’s two rooms free on the second floor, if you don’t mind sharing. We’re pretty packed right now- everyone’s heading towards the boundary for the winter, you know, with it being so much warmer here.”

“Uh… yeah. We are good with that. Luke, Casey, are you guys up for sharing one?” Ashton said, looking between the two boys.  
“I mean, I guess,” Casey said, and Luke just shrugged again.

“I missed sharing a room with you, you know,” Ashton said, as they swam down the underwater hallway. “You have a comfortable presence.”  
“Thanks,” Michael said with a smile. Ashton smiled back sweetly.

The one thing Michael disliked about this underwater hotel was the lack of an elevator. And it didn’t really make all that much sense to have one, especially when swimming up the ramps set in place took no effort, and sliding down seemed to take even less. Still, there was something about hotels needing elevators that he couldn’t let go. The idea of Ashton, especially, jumping up and down in one, laughing at the way it moved.. or, alternatively, the idea of Ashton pressed up against the elevator wall, moaning his name as Michael pressed kisses to his neck, hands roaming...

Michael just really wished they had an elevator.

Their room was a sparkling white, fitted with the one thing in a hotel that could Michael happier than an elevator- a bed. “You’re kidding me,” he whispered, walking in the oak door to the bedroom. “There’s actually a bed. I- I must be dreaming. There’s no way.” In contrast to the white walls and oak floors, the bed was the stark shade of pomegranates in the summer- a dark red violet. Michael grinned in anticipation to sleep, finally _sleep_ , on something other than the cold, hard ground.

“What is that thing?” Ashton asked. Michael paused, turning to face him. Sure, it had occurred to him that mermen usually slept on the floor, but not knowing what a bed was? _Unacceptable_ , Michael thought, shutting the door behind him and Ashton. “Is it food?”  
“Why the hell…” Michael said, looking at Ashton. “There is no way that thing can fit in your mouth.”  
“You have no idea what my mouth can do,” Ashton said. Michael paused, biting the inside of his lip. He really hoped Ashton meant that the way it came out.  
“Oh yeah?”  
“Oh yeah.”

“Really? Because I think I have a hunch,” Michael said, moving close to Ashton. He slid his hands down Ashton’s hips, placing his forehead to the other man’s. He began pressing his lips, quick and rough, to Ashton’s. Ashton leaned deeper into the kiss. He pulled his arms around Michael’s neck, tangling in his hair.  
“Yeah, I think you might be right,” Ashton said between kisses. They were pressed together tightly, wound like wire round a spool. Michael found himself backing up under Ashton’s strength. Before he knew it, he felt the feeling velvet on his back, Ashton on top of him.  
“This,” Michael said, adjusting his position, “is what a bed is for.”  
“Remind me to get one of these,” Ashton said, moving himself back up to the point where he was above Michael, staring into his eyes. Michael recognized the dark look of lust. Michael just knew it was reflected on his face. He slid his hands onto Ashton’s back. Ashton’s muscles, accumulated from swimming, hunting, and god knows what else, slid under Michael’s fingers, rattling him to the core.

Soon, Ashton was moving his lips to Michael’s neck.

“I- hnng,” Michael stuttered, feeling Ashton’s breath on his skin.  
“You like that?” Ashton murmured against his skin. Michael felt himself moan, the unholy noise falling from his mouth. “I thought so.” Ashton moved his kisses down Michael’s torso, stopping at his nipple. “I… fuck. Hell,” Michael swore. Ashton paused, looking up at him. Michael sighed shakily, moving his hands to the back of Ashton’s head. “Keep going.”  
“Are you sure-”  
“Please,” Michael all but begged.

Ashton slowly pressed his tongue to Michael’s nipple. He licked around it, skimming it with his teeth. Michael squeezed his eyes shut, a whine slipping from his throat. “Yeah…” Ashton muttered, his voice breathy. “Moan for me.” Michael let out a shuttering moan. His breaths were spaced and heavy.

“I want to cum so badly, fuck,” Michael muttered. “How the fuck does this work without a dick?”  
“You sure say fuck a lot,” Ashton said, looking back up at Michael.  
“How the fuck do you fucking fuck?” Michael asked desperately. He needed the release, the climax that brought him to his high. Ashton laughed quietly, pressing another kiss to Michael’s lips.  
“We only… _fuck_ to reproduce.”

“Wow. Great. That’s… that’s great,” Michael said sarcastically, his head falling back to hit the pillow.  
“Yeah. That was nice, though. We could maybe… do this more often” Ashton said, collapsing on the bed beside him. Michael closed his eyes. He still craved the climax. He lay there, imagining Ashton’s hands rubbing the head of his cock, his tongue running circles around his throbbing dick- the orgasm he was dying for.

He didn’t sleep all that well that night.


	12. The Culture

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for leaving this for a little bit- the school play was this weekend, and we had rehearsal every night 'til ten. Seeing as its Thanksgiving break now, though, I'm going to write so much that I get back on track. I will, I swear. Anyways, here's chapter 12.

“Room service!” a chipper voice called, waking Michael from his restless sleep. It was more of a nap if he was honest- he barely slept at all.  
“C’m in,” Michael grumbled. The door opened, revealing a mermaid with blonde hair and a tail of a Sagittarius; it was long, muscular, and a dark, deep green.  
“Hiya. You must be Michael and Ashton,” the woman said, smiling at the two of them. “I’m Miranda, and I’m sort of like your waitress for today.”  
“Hmm,” Ashton mumbled, sitting up. His hair was all over the place, bedhead a wreck. Michael smiled, finding it endearing.

“Is there anything in particular you would like to eat? We do have chefs here, and they are known for their talent,” Miranda said, giving two pieces of paper to Michael. He passed one to Ashton without thinking, then began looking at the paper’s contents.  
“Wait. Is this, like, a menu?” Michael asked. The paper was just a list of different types of foods- all foods Michael had known from above.  
“Yep. You ask for it, we’ve got it.”  
“But how does that work? You can’t burn a fire underwater,” Michael said, and Miranda laughed.  
“As far as I know, we’re the most intelligent, well connected species on this planet, as of, like, ever. I think finding a way to make fire without oxygen and preserved in a waterless bowl is easy enough,” she said. Michael shook his head in surprise. _These mermaids sure have their shit togethe_ r, he thought, remembering the disastrous ways of his home.

“Do you guys have Hawaiian pizza?” Michael asked, looking up from the menu.  
“Of course. Don’t you want anything fancier? We have steak, lobster-” Miranda started, but Michael cut her off.  
“I just want Hawaiian pizza, honestly,” Michael said.  
“Fair enough, I can respect that. Anything for you, Ashton?”  
“I… I don’t, um,” Ashton said, looking at the menu. “I actually can’t… you know, read.”

Michael’s eyes widened. He knew Ashton didn’t go to school- he _knew_ , and yet, it felt strange seeing the effects of that on someone. He figured that Ashton must have picked up grammar and etiquette from his Teach, because Michael had never met someone with such a way with words.  
“Hey. I can read it for you,” Michael said quietly. Ashton nodded, leaning in to Michael’s side.  
“It is too early for this,” Ashton said as quietly.  
“Tell me about it,” Michael said, smiling at Ashton.

“They’ve got omelettes, salads, burgers, soup, and sandwiches- okay, pretty stereotypical. Any of that sound good to you?”  
“Michael, I have never heard of any of those things in my life,” Ashton said. He seemed almost sad, melancholy.  
“That’s okay. Omelettes are like, eggs-”  
“You eat eggs? Like, reproduction eggs? Gross,” Ashton murmured, and Michael smiled.  
“Salads are just plants, basically. Burgers are like, hmm. How do I explain burgers,” Michael said, thinking hard. “It’s like, meat with vegetables and dressing and cheese on this piece of bread thing. They’re good, trust me.”  
“Mikey, I will just take what you are having,” Ashton said.

“Great! I’ll see you two in a few minutes with your orders,” Miranda said, walking out the door.

“Okay, what’s wrong,” Michael said, scanning Ashton’s face.  
“Nothing. ‘m just really tired,” Ashton said, crawling back onto the bed. “I also love this bed thing. ‘s so comfortable.”  
“Yeah. I think I might have complained about missing it a little, while first living with you guys,” Michael said, lying down. Ashton joined him, cuddling into his side.  
“And I keep thinking how much Calum would like this,” Ashton said, looking around. “He loves structure, organization, and-”  
“Women,” Michael finished, and Ashton raised turned to face him.  
“What?”  
“I probably wasn’t supposed to tell you that, but I feel like I should tell you things,” Michael said. He knew Calum wouldn’t care as long as Ashton wouldn’t. Michael didn’t know what he’d do if Ashton would.

“You mean, like… he likes women, or he _likes_ women?”  
“The second one. He told me, the night we were prepping for Alex’s Teach to come for us. I can’t even remember how the conversation came up, but he seemed scared that you, Liam, and the others would kick him out for that. I felt bad for the guy,” Michael said, sighing. “Where I’m from, the only way people can reproduce is with a guy and a girl, or maybe just in a lab, sometimes.”  
“He was scared that he would have gotten kicked out?” Ashton said, mentally skipping over that last sentence.  
“Yeah. He said that he tried to love a guy, but he just couldn’t do it. I dunno, I found that kind of relatable,” Michael said. Ashton nodded, pulling Michael into his chest. Michael was used to being the little spoon- he wasn’t short, but he just… liked it better. It felt safe, secure.

A knock was heard at the door. “Hey, Miranda got busy with another customer, so they sent me to deliver your food. Can I come in?” a voice called from the door. This voice was less excited, and almost sounded a little more edgy.  
“Uh, sure,” Michael said, sitting up. The door opened. A woman with a bright red tail and black hair walked in, smiling at the two boys. She carried two boxes, each presumably filled with pizza.  
“You wanna eat this here?” She asked, and Michael shrugged. “Cool. Just think of whatever you want, it should appear,” she said. “Well, except food. Don’t do that.”  
“You mean we can just _think_ of things and they will appear?” Michael asked.  
“Well, yeah. That’s how that works,” she said, placing the boxes on a small end table. _I swear that wasn’t there a minute ago_ , Michael thought, eyes darting back to the woman.  
“So I’m Rena by the way,” she said, leaning in the doorframe. “What’s it like past the boundary?” she asked, looking between the two.

“Uh,” Ashton stuttered. “It is nice, I suppose. Not as nice as this. Something must have happened, I have no idea.”  
“It’s kind of in anarchy,” Michael said. “Cannibalism, murder, the whole lot.”  
“I see it as a cultural difference,” Ashton defended, and Michael smiled.  
“Call it what you want, babe, you have to admit that this place is better functioning.”  
“We have not even left this city. What if the whole world past these walls is so much worse than home?”  
“Yeah, maybe. I mean, there was a really big gate around the outside…”

“As someone who’s lived here her whole life, let me tell you- we’re like this all around. I myself was born near California, but I travelled down here to live in Artelaine.”  
“Artelaine?” Michael asked, and Rena smiled.  
“You've been here for two days now. You think you’d know the place’s name,” she said.  
“Before this trip, I've never left home,” Ashton said.  
“Wow. Up here we’re always everywhere. I lived on the coast of Canada for a while. I moved to Oregon for a year, spent some time in Africa. I moved here because of the huge trade business. Plus I like the people here, which is always important.”

“Yeah,” Ashton muttered. Michael could tell from the look on his face that he was thinking about his old Teach. Michael put a hand on his shoulder, and Ashton leaned in to the touch.

“Anyways, it was nice talking boys, but I've got a restaurant to run,” Rena said with a wave.  
“Thank you!” Michael called after her. She shut the door, and Michael turned back to Ashton. “Now for real. You _have_ to try this pizza.”


	13. The Exiting

They sat in a circle around a small table, mermaids buzzing around them. They appeared to be in some sort of library, filled with waterproof books. Michael didn't question it. He was learning to stop questioning things. Casey had called them he said he had to tell them something. Casey was wringing his hands- he was nervous, but about what Michael didn't know.

“Guys,” Casey said, looking between Luke, Ashton, and Michael. “I- ugh. How do I tell you this.”  
“Casey, you can just _tell_ us. It is not like we are just going to disown you,” Ashton said, voice calm and collected.  
“I know, but… You are not going to like it.”  
“I’ve liked nothing I've heard since Halsey told us we had some weird journey to go on. I'm sure it won't be that bad,” Michael said.  
“You liked _nothing_?” Ashton asked. Michael felt his cheeks burn red.  
“Well, almost nothing,” Michael said.

“I'm staying here.” The words fell from Casey’s mouth, and he looked down, hiding his face with his hair. “I'm staying here, with Nia, with Miranda, with Rena. It is so much nicer up here- there is no constant threat of death, and I have actually found things I am good at. I never thought I would be good at anything. And the people here are all so accepting. Like, I could mess up a hundred thousand times and they would still ask me if I wanted to try again. I will not be kicked out, like I was back home. I just… I really like it here, and I am happy. Can you be happy for me, too?” Casey said. He crossed his arms, hiding himself from the boys as much as he could. He looked so small in that moment.

“Casey, I-” Ashton started, but he fumbled, at a loss for words.  
“I know you are probably disappointed. Teaches should be there for each other, but I just can't take it anymore. I’m sick of feeling worthless,” Casey said. He's voice broke around the contractions, the words sounding unnatural as they reached Michael’s ears.

“It is okay, Casey. We respect your decision,” Luke said, speaking for all of them.  
“Really?” he mumbled, looking up.  
“Of course,” Ashton said. “Casey, we are behind you, no matter what.”  
“Michael?” Casey asked.  
“Do you even need to ask?” Michael said, smiling.

“Alright, come on. Group hug,” Ashton said, getting up from the table. Michael groaned jokingly, but got up as well. Luke wrapped his arms around Ashton’s shoulders, and Casey crashed his chest between the two. Michael laughed as they tried to wrap their arms around each other. “This is horrible,” Michael said into someone’s shoulder- he wasn’t quite sure who’s it was.  
“Yeah,” Ashton said, a giggle rippling through his throat.

They pulled away, smiles spread across all of their faces. “Thanks, guys,” Casey said. Ashton ruffled his hair.  
“Ssh!” a librarian all but shouted, and Michael covered his mouth, laughter still bursting through.  
“But for real,” Ashton said, voice suddenly serious. “We are going to miss you, Case.”  
“Yeah, and I will miss you, too. But I think I belong here, almost. Thanks for bringing me.”  
“Anytime,” Michael said. “And if we happen to pass you on our way back, it won’t be by accident.”  
“See you later, Case,” Luke said. The three of them- Luke, Ashton, and Michael, for the first time without Casey by their side- left the building. It was the last time they saw him in over three years.

 

“So you’re going, huh?” Coll asked. The Teach, as well as Halsey and Coll, were standing just outside the gated city. Ashton nodded to Coll's question, and Luke was quick to sign something back. Coll chuckled, pulling him in for a hug. "'m gonna miss you guys."  
"Yes, yes. Tearful goodbyes," Halsey joked, but Michael could tell she, too, was sad to see them go. He was sad to go himself. But he knew that, if he still wanted to save Calum, they had to leave. And he wanted nothing more than to save Calum.

"I did succeed in finding you a guide, believe it or not," Halsey said. "Her name is Bo. She managed to save Alex's life the instant he crossed the border- he was bleeding heavily from his stomach, and she applied the proper medicine."  
"You have medicine, too?" Michael asked, surprised by this. South of the boundary didn't have that...  
"Of course. And honestly, finding her is very coincidental. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was fate," Halsey said.

"So where is she?" Ashton asked, looking around. She didn't appear to be anywhere near.  
"I think she's still inside... Colleen, could you go get her for me?" Halsey asked.  
"I- yeah, sure. I guess I'll see you around, boys," she said, giving them one last glance. "Bye!"

"I'm gonna miss her," Michael said, looking on as she walked off.  
"Me, too," Luke said. There was a silence then. A silence of realization. Their journey so far had taken over a year, and they had no idea how long it would take from here on out. They might not even make it back alive.

A mermaid approached them. This must be Bo, Michael thought. She had black hair with midnight blue highlights, and her tail was the same shade of blue. She was tall- taller than Michael expected, at least. "Hey. Heard you were looking for me?" she asked. Her voice was relatively high pitched compared to every other mermaid they'd met so far.  
"Yeah. You are Bo, right?" Ashton said.  
"Uh-huh. Let me get one thing straight, though; you want me to swim for an indefinite amount of time, protect three guys I've never met, help them hunt some other group of guys, and save a baby. Is that all?"  
"We also have to rescue another guy," Luke said.  
"Great. What am I getting paid for this, again?"  
"Depends on whether you're successful or not," Halsey said.

"Okay. Suppose I am?"  
"You'll be honored as a hero."  
"And suppose I'm not?"  
"If you're unsuccessful, the only valid reason is that you're dead."  
"Oh. Nice," Bo said, nodding at Halsey. "Real classy."  
"Just saying. Don't come back without the child," Halsey included.  
"Right. Well, see you in in indefinite amount of time, then," Bo said, waving.  
"Thanks, Halsey. You have really helped our Teach, in the long run," Ashton said. "Also the short run, but mostly the long run."  
"Of course. You guys better follow those rule things. Do you think they're meant to close the boundary?" she asked, and Ashton shrugged.  
"Maybe," Michael said. "Who knows, really."

"Goodbye, you guys. Good luck," Halsey said. "Don't forget about us."  
"Like that could ever happen," Ashton said. Michael looked around their little group. Ashton, Luke, him and Bo- the four of them, against whatever would be thrown their way.


	14. The Beginning

It was only a day into their trip and they were already fighting.

"We cannot hunt now, it is essentially suicide!"  
"I'm not saying that you should hunt at all, Ashton. Hunting, in its very nature, is barbaric and crude."  
"What did you just say to me?" Ashton all but screamed in Bo's face. Michael looked over at Luke, who was, as per usual, avoiding any remnants of a row.  
"If it were not for hunting, hundreds and thousands of mermen would not be alive right now! I would have died twenty times over!" Ashton shouted.  
“And because of hunting, hundreds and thousands of mermen have died! Listen, Ashton, I don’t have time for this. I say we find a ship, loot it, and carry on. Ships are always sailing at night, and sailors seem to have a thing for my voice,” Bo said.

Michael sighed. He wasn’t surprised that they would be fighting- Ashton was always very protective of his way of living, hunting and all. Bo seemed to be, like Michael, put off by all of it. Unlike Michael, though, Bo was very determined to get her way, whenever possible.

“What do you mean, loot it? Are you implying that we are to eat _human_ food?”  
“Hell yeah I am. Are you implying that we are going to eat _humans_?”  
“Of course. We have been doing that for centuries, and our race has never been more thriving,” Ashton said. Michael raised an eyebrow at that. Could the condition they’re in really be called thriving?

“Look, there’s a bank of kelp up there. If you guys are really that hungry, we can take a break and compromise. Whatever happens, I just want the fighting to stop. Okay?” Michael said. He had had enough.  
“Okay,” Ashton murmured.  
“Fine,” Bo said, equally quietly.  
“About time,” Michael heard Luke whisper, and he smiled.  
“Great. Now come on, the faster we travel the faster we find Calum,” Michael said.  
“And the faster we find the baby,” Bo added impatiently.  
“Uh, yeah, that, too,” Michael said, making his way to the body of kelp.

A day or two passed with them following Bo and Luke, the two of them moving in sync. Michael was beginning to trust the Kaitiaki Connection, afterall.

“Do you even know where they are going? Like, where Calum and them might be headed,” Ashton said one day, when the conversation was distant and the whole group had been growing bored.  
“Halsey said the child would be in Massachusetts, but other than that, I have no idea. I do know the way there, but I think they’ve chosen an alternate route,” Bo said. “I could sketch a map if you want.”  
“Maybe tonight, right before we sleep. What would you sketch it on?” Ashton said.  
“You don’t have pockets, do you?” Michael asked. He swam around her, looking at the sides of her tail. Bo chuckled, shoving Michael off.  
“Of course not, that would be weird. I just meant sketch it on the sand, with a stick or something. Although, pockets would, admittedly, be really cool,” Bo said, a smile on her face.  
“What are pockets?” Ashton asked. Michael put his hand on Ashton’s shoulder, an apathetic look falling over his features.  
“Oh Ashton, I have so much to teach you,” Michael said.  
“Teach?”  
“Learn teach, not Teach teach,” Michael said. He saw Bo out of the corner of his eyes, shaking her head and grinning.  
“You guys are a mess,” she said.  
“That’s the truest thing I’ve heard all year,” Michael said.

She did sketch them a map that night. The waves ripped at it slightly, but Michael could still make it out. She drew their starting position, represented by a small smiling face. An arrow was drawn, pointing to a small ‘you-are-here’ star. Another arrow was drawn to a sailboat. Bo had said that this sunk when she was a child, and they could probably pick up some relevant items to help them along the way. Ashton had protested slightly at the use of human items, but he was overpowered by the other three merpeople that had travelled with him.

The next arrow was connected to two lines. This was the obstacle Michael feared the most. The Panama Canal- the only way of crossing four merpeople across a huge land mass. He never really researched the Panama Canal, but he understood the issues of the issues of crossing it. They needed a boat to do so, and there was no way to get all four of them on one of those. _Well, we could get creative,_ Michael thought, _but the chances of, like, succeeding? Next to none._

A reef followed the canal. Michael was a little confused by this. They saw reefs every day- why did she feel the need to highlight this one? When he asked her, she replied simply "This reef is different. You'll know what I mean." He was glad he'd know what she meant, because as he lay there, awaiting sleep, he had no idea. After the reef was the word CAL, in all capital letters. Michael wasn't quite sure why she didn't write BLAINE or CHILD or something of the nature. He didn't think she cared what happened to Calum, so long as they got the baby back safely.

Ashton had questioned her regarding the drawing of the map, pointing out a blank space. "I think we should cross here, take a shortcut. We would get to Calum faster, maybe even beat them there."  
"No, we wouldn't," Bo said, shaking her head at Ashton. "We'd be killed."  
"What? That doesn't make sense, there's nothing there," Ashton said, looking at the map in the sand.  
"That's because I haven't finished yet," Bo said. She picked the stick back up, drawing three triangles.  
"Is it, like, a mountain range?"  
"It's an underwater volcano, stupid. It'd kill us in ten seconds flat. Most active volcano I've ever seen- no one I know has ever survived it."  
"Mmh," Ashton said with a nod.  
"Bet Calum could," Michael murmured, and Ashton nodded again.

"You paint Calum in such a light that he's invincible. He's only merman. He can't live through everything," Bo said, looking straight at him.  
"I know he's strong. He's not invincible, sure, but he's stronger than you give him credit for," Michael said. "You've never even met the guy."  
"Yeah, but have you? Like, really gotten to know him. It's been over a year since you've seen him- are you sure he hasn't changed? Maybe he sides with the other Team-"  
"Teach," Michael corrected.  
"Teach, that took him. Stockholm syndrome is a real thing, you know."

"I don't think Calum would do that to us," Ashton chimed in, moving from his sitting position so that he was lying down. "The guy has a heart of gold. He could not betray a fly."  
"Not quite sure that's how the expression goes, but you get the idea," Michael said, moving to lie down next to Ashton.  
"Whatever. We continue in the morning where we left off. You let me know if you see any ships pass, we could really use a meal.”

Michael heard Ashton scoff. “We have survived this far off of natural supplies, why can we not-”  
“Ash,” Michael said, looking over at the shorter boy. “Let’s just go to sleep, okay?”

Ashton rolled his eyes, but pulled Michael up to his chest.  
"Just this once.  
"Mmhmm," Michael muttered. He slid his eyes shut, falling asleep to the pattern of Ashton's breathing.


	15. The Pollution

The next morning was worse than anything Michael could have expected.

It was Ashton that shook him awake. It took Michael a second to wake up. He was a bit of a heavy sleeper, but when your boyfriend is all but slamming you back and forth, desperately trying to wake you up, it is hard not to. He was looking Michael in the eye, and he could tell from the way Ashton’s mouth moved that he was yelling, screaming something at him.

Michael’s hearing was impaired- he noticed this with a start. Ashton grabbed him by the wrist, tugging him away from the ground. Michael blinked hard. His eyes were scalding. The water around him smelled of sulfur and burnt rubber. He had no idea what was going on.

The water around them wasn’t the fresh, blue hue that he was used to- it was a coppery red brown, and stunk like Michael couldn’t believe. Ashton continued to pull his wrist, leading him god knows where. He tried to take a deep breath, struggling to pull oxygen from the water. It was like he was in some sort of twisted nightmare all of a sudden. His senses were nullified. His skin burned and tingled, and he could almost feel the rashes appearing. He had no idea where they were, what was happening, or where half of his Teach had gotten to.

Ashton’s presence was still there, Michael could feel him. The taste of the water was horrific- a near gag worthy blend of metallic and earthy, poisonous and moldy. Michael clung to Ashton like a lifeline, struggling not to suffocate. He didn’t know what was going on. He didn’t know what was happening. He wanted, more than anything, to be out of here. Leaving, no matter where to. All other thoughts slipped his mind; all he thought was _hold on to Ashton. Survive._

A ringing began to fill his ears. _Hold on to Ashton. Survive._  
His vision blurred further, his mind going numb. _Hold on to Ashton. Survive._  
Dizziness took over him, the world spinning. _Hold on to Ashton. Survive._  
He pushed through franticly, forcing all of his willpower. _Hold on to Ashton! Survive!_  
Pain writhed through his body. _Hold on to Ashton! SURVIVE!_

“Michael!” Hearing was the first sense to return. He still felt Ashton’s hand on his wrist, and his other hand held on to Ashton’s forearm. “Michael, can you hear me? Please be okay… Poseidon, let him be okay…” Michael wrenched his eyes open. He saw Luke across from him. Luke’s eyes were bloodshot, his arms and chest a scalding red. Michael’s eyes still stung, but he could see now, a vast improvement to only seconds ago. Luke’s eyebrows were knit together, both hands wrapped around his own stomach.

“You’re awake!” Ashton called, running a hand through Michael’s hair.  
“Mmh,” Michael mumbled, dropping grip of Ashton. He sunk to the seafloor, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hands. “What was that?”  
“Spot of pollution,” Michael heard Bo say. “They sometimes are in little clumps like that. It’s more often in big spreads near big cities- cities in China mostly. It’s horrible. Big companies pump chemicals into the water that they all plan to drink, that we plan to live in. I can’t even understand why someone would do that.”

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Luke murmured, and Michael grimaced.  
“I know. I can’t believe people would even-”  
“No, I mean, I am actually going to puke,” Luke said, turning at the last second. Michael shielded his eyes as Luke emptied the contents of his stomach into the ocean, retching with an almost pained sound.

“It’s a side effect,” Bo said. “I mean, it happens so often up here that mermaids have kinda adapted, via evolution, I believe. I dunno, science was never really my subject. Geography, though, I’m your girl.”  
“Will he be okay?” Ashton asked. His tone was soft, nervous. He was worried.  
“Maybe. I have no real way of knowing; as I said, this doesn’t really happen anymore. I think he’d need to go to a hospital, but we’re in the middle of nowhere.”  
“Great. That’s… that’s fucking great,” Ashton murmured. To Michael, the contraction didn’t go unnoticed.

Luke took a deep breath, the vomit no longer expelling itself from his stomach. Michael watched him carefully. When he was a kid, every time he was sick his mum would take him to the hospital. It didn’t matter how sick- if he’d thrown up even once she’d take him in. One time Michael had thought he had food poisoning- eaten a bad burrito, maybe. His mum still took him to the hospital, and, as it just so happens, he had had a pretty bad stomach infection. If he didn’t go to the doctors when he did, he could very well be dead right now.

Michael was always similar to that, in a sense. He didn’t know how to take care of things, so he was sure to get professional help and ask someone who knew what they were talking about, rather than taking a chance. That’s why, as Luke struggled to tell them that no, he was fine and that yes, he was feeling better, Michael was unconsoled. They continued on, though.

Ashton’s eyes were redder than Michael’s and Luke’s combined. He looked as if they really bothered him; he kept scratching at them, blinking extra hard, and swimming for long periods of time with them sealed shut. This lead to predictable consequences. He’d ran into Michael many of times, and into Bo once or twice. He even swam straight into a bolder that one time...

Luke continued having problems with his stomach. There was only a few other times when he puked, but he wasn’t willing to eat as often. His hands were almost glued to his stomach, trying in vain to keep everything down. He’d developed some weird cough along with it, and it sort of made him sound like some kind of seal. He was talking even less than usual, and Michael couldn’t blame him. He could only imagine how raw Luke’s voice must be sounding.

Michael’s main issue with the pollution was the effect on his skin. A rash coated his face, arms, chest, and back, leaving him tense and uncomfortable at nearly all times. It felt so strange for him to lie down. He slept very little, and when he did, it was in short, fitful bouts. Bo was the only one of them who truly was unaffected.

“I’m glad we’re not down south anymore, because we’d be one hell of a hunting target,” Michael said, looking at the state of his Teach.  
“You don’t say,” Bo muttered sarcastically. They still hadn’t reached their first checkpoint--the shipwreck--despite all the taxing efforts it took to get them this far.  
“I just cannot wait to find Calum. Honestly, I cannot wait to find the others, too. I am kind of in the mood to beat those bastards,” Ashton said, his eyes still shut. He was veering slightly to the left, off course. Michael slid his hand over Ashton’s shoulders, subtly guiding him in the right direction.  
“You’re in no state to fight, Ashton. The three of you are a goddamned mess,” Bo said. Michael didn’t want to admit it, but she was right.

“It’s not our fault that our merman genes aren’t as equipt as your mermaid ones,” Michael said. Bo smirked. “Just means people up here throw more garbage.”  
“I think it’s because we travel more. You said you guys have rarely left home- you wouldn’t see the mass pollution away from big cities,” Bo said.  
“We lived in Melbourne. It was crowded on the mainland, from what I have heard,” Ashton said.  
“Second largest population in Australia,” Michael added, “Almost 19% of Australian humans live up there.”  
“Alright, then why haven’t you evolved like we have? From what you’re saying, you’ve lived near a city almost all of your lives. Why haven’t you dealt with pollution?”  
“I don’t know, pollution’s actually kinda low where we live. Up here, where you guys have America and other big polluters, you guys get it a lot. I don’t know, whatever. Maybe we just have different types of reactions or something.”

“All that I know is that I want it to stop,” Ashton said, scratching further at his eyes.  
“Don’t scratch the itch, it makes it worse,” Michael said, and Ashton groaned, leaning into Michael’s shoulder. Michael flinched slightly at the feeling of Ashton against the burn of his skin. He took a deep breath, and tried not to let it show.

“Wow, you guys are too cute. How long have you been together again?” Bo asked, smiling at Michael and Ashton.

“I, well… I’m not quite sure. It wasn’t like we were together very suddenly or anything. We kind of just gradually fell and gradually went into it,” said Michael.  
“I used to have a girlfriend. She had the prettiest blue eyes, and blue tail to match. She was a Traveler- lived her life between land and sea. She went up and never came back. I don’t even know what happened to her. Someone said she might have been shot, but I don’t have the foggiest idea.”  
“Oh Bo,” Michael said, frowning sympathetically.  
“What does shot mean?” Ashton murmured, and Michael ran his spare hand through Ashton’s hair.  
“It’s when someone takes a gun- a metal machine type thing that people use to kill things- and, you know, kill people.”  
“That… wow. Does that happen a lot?” Ashton said. He opened his eyes, but squeezed them shut again, whining slightly.

“Yeah. I wish I could explain it better, but I’m not exactly a wordy kind of guy,” Michael said. Ashton heaved a breathy laugh.  
“Michael, you are the best wordsmith I have ever met, and do not tell yourself otherwise.”  
“Clearly you haven’t met yourself, because you are a wordy genius,” Michael said.  
“Anyways,” Bo said, swimming up towards Luke. “I guess we should take a food break pretty soon.”  
“Mmh,” Ashton agreed, and Michael looked around the water.

“Bo, there’s nothing here to eat.”  
“Luke, slow down-” she put a hand on his shoulder. She signed something quickly to him, and he nodded, coming to stand by Michael and Ashton.  
“Did you hear me? There’s nothing to eat.”  
“Michael, there’s always something to eat,” Bo said with a smile. Michael sent her a look, but she was already swimming up, near the surface.


	16. The Varieties

“Ash, she’s going up. Are you alright coming with?” Michael was looking up at Bo, whose tail was visible from their position, but not her head or chest.

“Yeah, yeah. I am fine. Maybe all my eyes need is a little fresh air, anyways,” Ashton said, gripping Michael by the shoulder. “Lift me up?”  
“Gladly,” Michael said, wrapping his arms around Ashton. He swam up (rather terribly, but still,) fighting the water’s current. Ashton was heavier than Michael would admit. All that muscle mass started to add up…

They broke the surface of the water with a splash. Bo was twenty or so feet away, pulling herself onto a nearby rock. They were nearly surrounded by water. Ahead of, to the right of, and to the left of Michael was surrounded by water. “Yep, not seeing the food,” he muttered, and Ashton chuckled.  
“Me neither.”  
“Your eyes are shut, dumbass.”  
“C’mon, guys, over here!” Bo called with a wave. “What’s taking you so long?”  
“Lack of caring,” Ashton muttered, and it was Michael’s turn to laugh.

Luke came above water, looking around. He gracefully swam towards Bo, sitting down beside her on the rock. Michael turned to Ashton. “Shall we?”  
“We shall.” They maneuvered towards the two, the smell of the ocean contrasting that of the crisp, fresh air.  
“You were wondering how to get food? Well, this is how a true master does it,” Bo said with a smile.

“What?” Michael said, placing his elbows on the side of the rock. His tail never left the water. Ashton pulled himself up next to Luke and Bo.  
“Well you see, if you look close enough in every religion, myth, or legend, merpeople are almost always there. I am a certain branch of merperson- a Siren.”  
“So you sing people to their deaths?” Michael said with a cocked eyebrow. He thought Bo was more pacifistic than that.  
“You are a Libra. So you do hunt,” Ashton said. There was a cocky, ‘I-told-you-so’ undertone in his voice.  
“I mean, yes, but also no. I’m not very fond of the whole killing thing. I try to get sailors close enough to us. Lure them in. Once they’re in nice and close, I usually send a Traveller up, to loot them of their food. In today’s day and age, they can just radio in for more food, and the cycle continues.”

“Okay, only problem with us doing that is the fact that one: there are no boats, and two: there are no Travellers,” Michael said.  
“Well, frankly, you’re wrong. About, like, both of those things. Turn around.” Michael did as Bo said. Behind him was a small boat- a shipment boat, by the looks of it.  
“Alright, great. There is a boat. But what about the fact that we do not have a Traveller?” Ashton asked.  
“We don’t. We have a supplier, Michael, and he will do,” Bo said. “But you and Luke are Clearwaters. It’s obvious.”  
“What? A- what?” Ashton said.  
“Oh, come on. You have to know. Travellers can _travel_ between the above and the below. Suppliers can _supply_ stolen goods and items. Sticky fingers, sort of. Clearwaters can blend into the background, so the _water_ becomes _clear_. You’d think you guys would pick up on this sort of thing.”  
“How did you know?” Ashton said.

“The different types of mermaids and mermen are actually different species. Like, very different. You must be joking at this point. You have to have already learned this.” The blank stares on the other three boys’ faces must have told her all she needed to know. “So okay, you don’t understand the Varieties. Do they teach you nothing down there?”

“We have a Charter, but it is based entirely off of the Zodiac calendar,” Ashton said.  
“O...kay. That’s a little weird. The Varieties system is a little more complex than some Horoscopes, my dear,” Bo said. Ashton huffed at the jab. “There are thirteen Varieties, which can be split into three categories- Hands, Bones, Hearts, and Heads.”  
“Real original,” Ashton said. Bo rolled her eyes, a smile on her face.  
“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. Anyways. Hands. Most mermaids are hands. Heats, Suppliers- that one’s you, Michael- Quicks, Chills, and Spokens.”  
“The fuck kind of names are those?” Michael said, and Bo laughed, shaking her head.  
“I didn’t name them, trust me. Anyways. These are almost regarded as the weakest, intellectually, of any merpeople.”  
“Michael’s one of those, though. Michael’s a damned genius,” Ashton said. Bo tutted.  
“Such swearing from you two today, I wouldn’t have predicted it. But yeah, sorry. Your species just isn’t as smart.”

Michael bit his lip. He never really thought of himself as smart, but hearing it said out of someone else’s mouth made him uncomfortable, and kind of upset. “Don’t be offended or anything. You’re in good company. About 40% of the population above the boundary is Hands.”  
“Yeah,” Michael said, but he was still disappointed. He liked being complemented; this felt worse than being insulted.

“So the Heats live by the equator, I think. I’ve never seen one any further north. Their tails are the prettiest of colors- flashy reds that twinkle like fire.”  
“Calum has a tail like that,” Michael said, and Ashton nodded.  
“Yeah. You already know what a Supplier is, Mike, so I’ll skip that one. Quicks have really bulky tails, but are the _quickest_ around. Like, the names are stupid, but there’s a reason. Quicks’ tails are usually a purple gray color, or sometimes blue gray.”  
“Alex,” Ashton murmured.  
“Ugh, that guy. Yeah, he’s a Quick. Bit of a dick, too, but as I said. The names have reason,” Bo said.

“Carrying on. Chills. They live in _chilly_ conditions, oftentimes near the north pole. I’ve only ever really met one Chill, when I was up in Canada for a while. Her name was Luna- we really hit it off. Okay, back on topic. Chills have like, white tails, sometimes with blue tints, sometimes with these tiny black specks. Really cool. Like, fantastic.”  
“In my old Teach, when I was a kid, I had a friend named Leighton that was one of those. He was alright, but kind of pushy sometimes,” Ashton said.  
“Alright. That’s irrelevant, but alright,” Bo said.

Ashton yawned, and Bo kept talking. “Spokens have cool colored tails. (Not cool colored like you know, nice looking, but like, opposite of warm colored.) And they can speak to animals, which is pretty great. I’ve never met one who wasn’t a bad chef, so that’s nice, too.”  
“Pieces,” Ashton muttered, his face falling. Michael ran a hand through Ashton’s hair, trying to comfort the shorter man. Ashton pushed him off, but Michael understood.

“So after the Hands are the Bones,” Bo continued. “I’m a Bones. Luke, Ash- you’re both Bones as well. There are four species of Bones: Gilded, Light, Siren, and Clearwater.”  
“I mean, that sounds like you are lying, but please. Continue,” Luke muttered.  
“I’m not lying, I swear. Gilded mermaids are basically indestructible. We have them work jobs in factories sometimes, because they can’t get hurt. They seem to enjoy it, but I wouldn’t really love it, I don’t think. Sounds a little scary. They have golden tails, which deflects everything but bullets, true story.”  
“They’re what you shoot through guns,” Michael whispered to Ashton, who nodded somberly.

“And what are we?” Ashton said.  
“Glad you asked. I already said earlier that you guys are Clearwaters, and I-” Bo was interrupted by a quiet beeping noise. She turned over her wrist, looking at the inside as if a watch was there. “Okay, I guess we’ve got to go back underwater soon. Here, I’ll explain there. We can eat when we’re done. None of you are particularly hungry, are you?” she asked. When none of them said anything she nodded, going underwater once more. Luke followed close behind.

“Your eyes feeling any better, Ash?” Michael asked. Ashton shrugged.  
“Not much of a difference, honestly.”  
“Okay. Ready to go back?”  
“Yeah, I suppose,” Ashton said. The two of them clung together, breaching the water’s surface once more.


	17. The Heads

“So where was I,” Bo said, settling back on the ocean ground.  
“There was a weird beeping noise and then you told us to go underwater. Any particular reason?” Ashton said.  
“Oh, we were almost out of breath. If I’m above for fifteen minutes, the beeper tells me when it’s time to go back down. It was something my parents paid for me to have as a baby.”  
“Is it, like, under your skin? That’s kind of gross,” Michael said.  
“Yeah, but it’s necessary. I would have died so many times without it…” Bo said, drifting off in thought.

“You were going to tell us what Clearwaters are,” Ashton prompted her.  
“Oh yeah. So Clearwaters. Their tales are usually sapphire blue or emerald green. In rare cases they’ll match the skin tone of the mermaid, but that’s not the case with you two. Ashton’s is obviously green, Luke’s is obviously blue. That’s how I knew you were Clearwaters. And I’m guessing you can blend in with your surroundings?” Bo said. Luke flashed between opaque and clear, and Bo smiled. “Thought so. Anyways. I’m a Siren, as I already said. I was born with a great voice, one that’s used to lure-”  
“Sailors to their deaths. We got that part,” Michael said.  
“Yeah yeah. Sirens have other talents too, you know. I can help Head Travellers shift. Can you do that? Huh? I don’t think so. Plus I don’t have to actually kill the sailors, I could just pillage them. They’ll be home safe soon; unlike them, I have to worry about lack of food. Anyways. Light Mermaids. I think Coll said you met Nia, right?”

“Yeah, she and Casey really hit it off,” Ashton said.  
“Well did you notice the way her tail lit up?”  
“Like Louis’ and Zayn’s,” Michael said.  
“Okay, cool. Well, Light mermaids- get this- don’t actually have to eat.”

Bo paused as if waiting for them to show a look of great surprise.

“We know,” Michael said.  
“Like Louis and Zayn,” Ashton repeated.  
“Alright, whatever. Like Louis and Zayn. You know, not having to eat is extraordinary. They’re like plants,” Bo said.  
“Yeah, except… not like that at all,” Ashton said.  
“Wow. Okay. Kill my thunder. I see how it is,” Bo said, rolling her eyes.  
“Your thunder died a long time ago,” Ashton said. Michael repressed the urge to shout ‘burn.’  
“Just… shut up. Hearts. Back to the Varieties. Hearts are only three different types of mermaids. Grace, Shammal, and Traveller. Grace mermaids have long, shiny white tails, almost the texture of leather, but look like- pearls almost. Very pretty. Coll is one of those. Grace mermaids are very intelligent, as are all Heart mermaids.”

“Shammals are actually really cool. I’m going to assume you’ve seen a shark.”  
“Yeah, loads of times,” Ashton said.  
“Only once in person,” Michael added.  
“Really? Wow. Only once? You sure?”  
“Positive,” Michael said.  
“That’s odd. I’ve seen at least a hundred. It’s sort of a thing that happens when you live underwater,” Bo said. Michael shrugged. “Okay, but for real. Shammals have shark tails, something no other species has. So that’s cool. Their gills are also along their sides, rather than their necks, like we have,” Bo said, absent mindedly rubbing the gills lining her neck.

“The last type of Heart is the Traveller,” Bo said.  
“Yeah, Halsey said I was one of those,” Michael said.  
“No, you’re a Supplier- you must have heard her wrong. It’s okay, I understand. Hands don’t always understand the first time,” Bo said. Michael rolled his eyes.  
“He is not stupid. Stop saying that he is,” Ashton said, his eyebrows furrowing.  
“I don’t mean to offend, trust me. I don’t mean that at all. I’m just trying to help him understand. He can’t be a Traveller. He has the tail of the Supplier, the intelligence of a Supplier, the whole shabang. You know what they say. If it looks like a duck, if it sounds like a duck-”  
“I’m not a duck, okay? And I’m not stupid, either,” Michael said. He hated the way she was speaking about him like he wasn’t there, that he was too much of an idiot to understand.  
“I’m not saying you’re a duck, sweetheart,” Bo said, “I’m saying you’re a Supplier. Now, carrying on.” Michael sighed, crossing his arms.

“A Traveller is a mermaid who is able to live both on land and sea. My girlfriend was a Traveller, I already told you that. Travellers usually have pastel colored tails, and are very good looking, by nature. They have to be. To be on land, mermaids must be incredibly beautiful.”  
“Okay,” Michael said. The sarcasm in his own voice was very clear. “Sure. So I can’t be one of those.”  
“Oh drop it, Michael. You’re a Supplier. Get over it,” Bo said.  
“Get over yourself,” Michael murmured. He couldn’t tell if Bo had heard it or not. If she did, she carried on like she didn’t.

“After Hearts are Heads. Halsey is a Head- you’ve met her. And the way Heads work is that they’re not really a thirteenth species, and yet they are.”  
“Wait… what?” Ashton asked.  
“I know, I know. It’s weird. But Heads are like, one of the twelve, but with incorrect powers.”  
“Hold on-” Michael started. That sounded awfully familiar.

“Let me finish. So like, if a Chill had powers of a Heat, they’d be a Head.”  
“Calum-”  
“C’mon, let me actually finish for once. Yeesh. You’ve interrupted me like seven times, Michael. Stop. As I was saying. Heads are treated like goddesses. They’re our leaders, our rulers, and our smartest mermaids.”  
“No way,” Michael said.  
“Way,” Bo said. “There are very few Heads. I’d say it’s one in two million, maybe more.”  
“You’re kidding,” Michael said. His mind was racing. There was no way-  
“Nope. Not kidding in the slightest,” Bo said.  
“That means I’m-”  
“A Supplier, Michael. Stop asking.”

“Wait, no,” Ashton said. “He is right. I knew he was fucking smart!” Ashton said.  
“He’s right about what?” Bo said.  
“You’re just describing outliers,” Michael said. “Heads are outliers. And all of the other types line up to Zodiacs, as well. It’s the same system with different names, that’s all it is.”  
“Really?” Bo asked, looking over at Michael.  
“Not kidding in the slightest,” Michael said, mocking Bo. She frowned. It was clear, to Michael at least, that she wasn’t used to being wrong. “Oh, and just in case you didn’t know- I’m a god damned Head. Don’t question it.”


	18. The Ship: Part One

“We need to eat,” Luke said. Michael stopped his mini rant at Bo to look over at him. Luke had gotten the worse hand of the pollution, it was becoming obvious. The constant sickness of it left him throwing up still, after days. It left the poor guy thin and fragile. “Now,” he said.  
“Fine, fine. Follow me up, will you?” Bo said. Luke and Michael nodded, and Ashton opened his eyes.  
“Huh?”  
“You don’t hear with your eyes, dumbass. You heard me. Let’s go,” Bo said. She began swimming up. Luke followed, but Michael hesitated.  
“Do you need help again?” he asked Ashton.  
“No. I didn’t really need help the first time. I just… I like the feeling of you.”

It took Michael a second to understand that. By the time he had registered a coherent thought, Ashton was already twenty feet above of him, swimming towards the line where air meets sea.

Bo, Luke, and Ashton were all on the same rock as before. Michael swam up to them, placing his arms back on the sides. “So I’m not going to try to explain this other than, like, one thing. But first, I’d like to apologise,” Bo said, looking at Michael.  
“Bo, it’s fine-” Michael started, but Ashton cut him off.  
“Never call him stupid again. Like, never. Never ever.”  
“Alright. I wasn’t planning on it,” Bo said, ducking her head. _At least she has the humility to be humiliated,_ Michael thought. “Next I want to review the plan. Michael, on my cue you will get on the boat. Find whatever you think will be useful. Food, weapons -only things that can be used underwater, like knives. No guns- supplies, whatever. Only take what’s necessary, you’ll only have a few minutes. Food is top priority right now. Any questions?”  
“How the hell am I supposed to get onto a boat? I have a tail. According to Liam, that will never change,” Michael said.

“Liam is a liar,” Bo said.  
“I mean, true,” Ashton said, “but what do you mean by that?”  
“Michael can travel to and from water at the call of a siren.”  
“The call of you?”  
“Hell yeah. Now. Are we all ready?” Bo said.  
“What do Ashton and I do?” Luke murmured. Bo smiled over at him.  
“You take it easy. You’re looking a little green. Ash, if you will, please wait by the side of the ship for Michael to toss things to you,” Bo said.  
“Alright,” Ashton said.  
“Alright,” Michael muttered.

Bo began to sing. There were no words to her voice. She sang loud but soft, calm but intense, serious but sweet. It was utterly indescribable. Michael’s taste in music was a little different than most, but he found himself lulled at her voice, fazed by its melody. She glared at him, voice unceasing, and he snapped awake. _Focus,_ he thought. He knew what the voice of a Libra _or Siren or whatever_ could do, and he was not about to fall victim.

His tail began to tingle under the water. Michael narrowed his eyes, looking down. He was too busy to notice the ship coming ever nearer to their group.

It felt like he was drowning. His gills, which worked so effortlessly before, were sealing themselves. His stomach twisted, and he flinched. _Holy fuck,_ Michael thought. _My organs are literally moving around inside my body._ He pulled himself out of the water, watching his tail. The color was fading quickly into a pale white, different from the deep, spiky black it had carried seconds earlier. He felt it separating. Michael fought the urge to scream as his tail split. To him, it felt as if the world was ending, that he’d never be okay again. “Agh!” Michael let out, grabbing at what were now his knees. “Fucking hell!”

“Are you okay?” Ashton asked, gripping Michael’s shoulder, but Michael could barely hear him. The pain in his legs was obscene. To his credit, he noticed that they had built up an impressive amount of muscle since he last saw them, mainly due to his swimming. “It’s so weird to see you like this, holy Poseidon,” So Ashton was worried again. He only ever used contractions when he was worried.  
“I’m fine. I need to go, I only have a few minutes,” Michael said. He stood up quickly, flinching at the way it felt. The cold water sloshed upon his naked body.  
“Are you sure? Take care of yourself-”  
“Ash, thank you for worrying, but I need to do my part,” Michael said, treading water.  
“Okay. Be careful,” Ashton said. Michael submerged himself in the water.

 _Keep going, Michael,_ he thought to himself. _They’re relying on you._

Michael climbed off the rock, sliding into the water. He clumsily swam towards the boat, not knowing what to do with his new formed legs. His head bobbed above the water as he took short, shallow breaths. He was not ready for this. He was not ready. He kept going.

Water filled his nose, his eyes, his lungs. He was so used to needing water surrounding him that the contrast was bizarre beyond belief. It had been years since he had last been human. Years. The water was so cold. He was nearing the ship. He laced his hands around a rope hanging from the boat, pulling himself up. Before all this, when he still lived on land, he never could have pulled himself up. He wasn’t strong enough. That’s why, as he tugged himself up the boat, he was surprised as to how easy it seemed. He threw his feet on board, wiggling his toes slightly.

There were two men on the deck. One was older, his gray hair barely holding onto his head. The other looked about twenty-five. Michael sighed. He was glad not to have to kill him. Deep down, he knows that’s what Ashton and Luke would have wanted. Both men were standing near the edge of the ship, leaning into Bo’s voice. They paid no attention to Michael. _This looks just like it’s out of The LIttle Mermaid, oh my god_ , Michael thought, looking around the boat. _Food,_ he thought. _Where did they put the food?_ He knew from his boating experiences with Harry where they normally stored food during long trips- in the compartments under the seats. Unfortunately for him, this boat was much larger than Harry’s little speed boat, and also wasn’t equipped with seats.

There was, however, several barrels positioned near the corner of the ship. Michael stumbled, walking over towards them with surprising difficulty. _This is harder than I remember,_ he thought, prying off the lid of the nearest barrel. Inside was a vast supply of fresh water. Michael sighed, tossing the lid back on haphazardly. He scanned the boat once more, before seeing a hole in the ship’s deck, with a ladder peaking out from the top. He pulled himself down rung by rung, before looking around the darker lower story. Glass jars filled with preserved foods lined a set of shelves. The ship jerked with the waves, and Michael clung to the ladder. He took a deep breath, letting go. He grabbed as many jars as he could, but he stopped. A pile of shimmery items lay in the corner, crowned with gemstones. _Nope,_ Michael thought. _Stealing is not a good idea_.

He looked over at the ladder with a sigh. Getting up might be harder than he thought. “Michael! Come on, we have to go soon!” Ashton’s voice carried throughout the ship.  
“I’m on my way, sorry,” Michael called back up.  
“It’s fine!” Ashton called back. _More contractions,_ Michael thought.

Michael had resorted to throwing the glass jars above the ladder and hoping for the best. The first one landed with a sharp _crash!,_ but the second one rolled on its side, unbreaking. Michael nodded, feeling as if that were the best idea. He threw several up, before climbing the ladder to look at how well it went.

Only the first jar cracked. Michael shrugged, picking up the discarded glasses, turning towards the edge of the ship. Ashton was waiting in the water eagerly, looking up at Michael. “Well? What did you find?” Michael turned the glasses over in his hands, glimpsing at the contents in each one.  
“Peaches,” he said, throwing one jar to Ashton, “Corn,” he tossed the jar overboard, “Olives, tomatoes, raspberry… jam, I think,” he passed the three to Ashton. “And this one has honey.” He dropped the last jar off the deck of the boat.

“I have no idea what any of that is,” Ashton said, a confused look on his face. “Isn’t this human food?”  
“Yeah, but I’m a human, so that makes sense,” Michael said. “Move out of the way, I’m coming in,” he said. Ashton scooched to the right, and Michael dived into the water.  
“Could you carry some of these back?” Ashton said. Michael shook his head.  
“I’m not so great at swimming without a tail and gills, love,” Michael said.  
“Makes sense. Are you okay, though? You look a little shaky,” Ashton said.  
“I’m fine. Legs hurt like hell, though,” Michael said. Ashton smiled small, pressing a small kiss to Michael’s forehead.  
“Let me know if you need anything, okay? If I can help you, I will.”  
“Alright,” Michael said, a blush creeping up on his cheeks. “Thanks.”

Bo seemed pleased to see them when they arrived back. She stopped singing, a grin filling her face. “That wasn’t too bad, was it?”  
“I can’t believe I’m eating human food,” Ashton whined, setting the jars down near Bo.  
“Shut up. You haven’t even tried it, it’s amazing,” Michael said.  
“Uh-huh. You said that about the pizza.”  
“You loved the pizza.”  
“I love you. The pizza was just okay,” Ashton said.

Michael did a quick double take.

“You… what?”  
“I said that the pizza was just okay. Strange that someone does not like the same foods as you, I know,” Ashton said.  
“No, that’s fine, I mean-”  
“I love you,” he said, turning to face Michael. Michael saw Bo gesture something to Luke, and the two of them splashed back under the water.  
“Wow,” Michael said, a small smile falling over his face. His heart was pounding faster than he could believe. He knew he could blame it on the exercise, but he didn’t feel the need to. He knew why it was doing this. He knew why he was doing this. Ashton himself was reason enough.

“I… I love you, too.”


	19. The Ship: Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not posting for several months. I don't really have a great excuse.
> 
> If you like this, though, check out a real book that I've just finished writing with my dear friend Hanna-
> 
> https://www.wattpad.com/story/18672080-superhuman-editing
> 
> Thanks.

Michael was pleased to find that the transformation from human to merman didn’t hurt as much as the other way around. At the sound of Bo’s voice, is legs pressed together seamlessly, the tingling feeling reminding him of how it felt when his foot was asleep. The dark, shimmery black covered his feet, inching up to his waist. White spikes sprouted up from his tail, covering the front sector. The fLuke of his tail was the last part to transform, swishing out with a certain grandeur.

“You’re damned beautiful,” Ashton whispered, and Michael looked over at him. Ashton’s hazel eyes were scanning Michael’s body, his lips parted slightly. Michael leaned in to plant a soft kiss on his lips.

“Not as beautiful as you,” Michael murmured. Ashton wasted no time in grabbing Michael by the hips, pressing his lips to Michael’s with more force. Michael leaned in, moving a hand to the back of Ashton’s head, roughly getting it tangled in the dirty blonde curls.

They were interrupted by a loud beeping noise. They pulled apart, disappointed, to see Bo and Luke, sitting across from them on the rock, looking anywhere but the two of them. “Doesn’t that mean we have to go back underwater?” Michael said, reminding her skeptically. _Had they been watching them? Or were they just finding all this awkward?_

“Oh, uh, yeah. Right. Underwater. Yeah,” Bo said, still avoiding eye contact. “Underwater.” Michael shrugged, pushing himself off the rock and into the depths, Ashton right behind him.

A splash told him that Bo and Luke weren’t far behind. “Right. So where to next?” Ashton asked quietly. Michael smirked at how puffy the other man’s lips were.

“To, um. To the, uh. The ship- _boat_! I mean boat. The boat wreck. Shipwreck. Whatever,” Bo stuttered through her words, shoulders tense. She began swimming in a certain direction, Luke following immediately.

“Do you ever get the feeling that they’re not telling us something?” Michael said to Ashton. Luke and Bo were farther ahead, not looking back once.

“They’re not dating, if that is what you are implying,” Ashton said.

“I wasn’t implying that. I mean, they’re hiding _something_ from us, can’t you tell?” Michael said. Ashton leaned forward, hoping to catch something they said, and Michael did the same.

“I think they’re speaking in sign language,” Ashton said.

“Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” Michael said. “I just wish we knew what they were talking about.”

“I think that makes you an eavesdropper,” Ashton said with a smile.

“If I’m an eavesdropper, you’re an eavesdropper,” Michael said, lacing an arm around Ashton’s shoulders.

“Guess we are both horrible mermen, then,” Ashton said, leaning into Michael’s shoulder.

“Suppose so,” Michael said, planting a kiss to the top of Ashton’s head.

A squeal of some sort came from the front of their group. Michael and Ashton sprung apart, moving to check up on their friends. “You two alright?” Michael asked, looking between Bo and Luke. Luke had a small blush on his face, and Bo was smiling like Michael had never seen before. Michael turned to Ashton. “You sure they’re not dating?” he mumbled, and Ashton rolled his eyes.

“Positive. Now come on, what startled you guys?”

“Nothing. Nothing happened. Nope. Nothing,” Bo said.

“Suspicious,” Michael said, crossing his arms.

“Come on, Michael. The worst they could be doing is not telling the truth,” Ashton said.

“I know, but… well, they could be hiding something. What if there’s something up with the Kaitiaki Connection?”

“There is not,” Luke said.

“Okay, well, what if there’s a problem with the boundary?”

“There’s none that I know of,” Bo said.

“Yeah? Well how about-”

“Michael. It’s nothing,” Bo said, her smile dropping. “We were just talking. It’s no big deal, really.”

“But you screamed,” Michael said, concern in his voice.

“I… I think it was Luke,” Ashton said. Michael looked over at Ashton, cocking an eyebrow.

“He sometimes has this thing, where he makes odd noises without trying to. He cannot hear them, so it never fazes him,” Ashton said, and Bo nodded.

“Oh. Shit. Sorry for interrogating you,” Michael said.

“It’s fine. You can trust us, Michael. You don’t have to drill us on every little thing,” Bo said. “Nope, no drilling required. Not to us, at least,” she said. She winked at that last one.

To Michael, the whole thing still seemed a little fishy.

“So this is it,” Ashton said. “The infamous shipwreck.” It was around midnight by Michael’s guess. The sky was a dark purple, and the only light this far under water was from the sliver of a moon illuminating patchy sections of the ground. Michael’s shadow quivered with the waves.

“I guess so,” Michael said.

“‘s a little eerie,” Ashton murmured.

“Yeah,” Michael said.

“We pass this and we’re halfway to the Canal. You guys aren’t too weak that you can’t pass a boat, are you?” Bo asked, swimming past them.

“We are not weak,” Ashton said, following quickly behind her. “We can pass a boat!”

“He reminds me of Flounder,” Michael muttered to Luke, who stared at him.

“Like the fish?” Luke said, his voice still rough.

“Nevermind,” Michael said, swimming after Ashton.

The boat itself was huge. There were at least six levels that Michael could count, and there must have been more that didn’t have windows. The boat lay on its side, an empty swimming pool nearest to them. The whole boat was covered in mildew and rot, and stunk like nothing Michael had ever smelled. There was an amber colored smokestack connected to the top of the boat. On the side, four silver words were engraved. “Is this a cruise ship?”

“It is. Well, I guess it _was_. Crashed in ‘89, I believe, a few years before I was born. She’s a beauty,” Bo said.

“I mean, sure, it looks nice, but you used to spend time here? It smells like shit,” Michael said, and Bo smiled.

“Didn’t used to smell so bad. I guess the wood just started falling apart, plants started growing everywhere… It was bound to happen. Anyways. There’s supplies in there, I think. Unless it was ransacked before us, but no one really goes through this way anymore,” she said.

“Why didn’t we go a different way, then?” Michael asked, looking up. He had a strange feeling in his gut saying that this wasn’t going to end well.

“We’ve been over this, Michael,” Ashton said, a small smile on his face. “Underwater volcanoes, remember?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Michael said, looking up at the boat. “I’m just really not looking forward to this.

“Hey, we will be fine. Now come on, we have some more supplies we need,” Ashton said, entering through the side of the boat. Michael took a deep breath, following closely behind.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, thanks for reading! A new chapter should be posted every/every other day, mostly because of NaNoWriMo. If you don't know what that is, you should check it out! 
> 
> Anyways, I really love to read all your comments. People reading my work makes all the time spent worth it!


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